Demon Story
by KUMidshipman2011
Summary: A US Naval Officer unknowingly marries a Demon and together they have a child that is supposed to combat an evil that threatens the planet.


Ok. It's kind of late and I had nothing better to do with my boring life at the moment, but you know I think some of my friends will get a kick out of this when I am older… Not to mention what my grandkids think of this story when I tell it to them. Heheheheh. But anyways, I am going to tell you a story of my life so far and how damned interesting it has been. Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Tyler Cecil. I am originally from Patuxent River, Maryland. It is a Naval Air Station near the very southern tip of Maryland…not very far from the boondocks; lots of good stories from my childhood. (I am being both serious and sarcastic of course) You may ask, "Well, Tyler, what is that you do with your life so far, huh?" This is the part that will probably almost always bring a tear to my eye and make me smile wider than the Grand Canyon. I recently graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Political Science and International Relations and a concentration in East Asian Cultures (more specifically, Japanese). The very next day I was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy, awaiting a class to open up for me at Naval Flight School in Pensacola, Florida. That was months ago and I am currently undergoing classes here as a Student Naval Aviator… did you get all that? Basically, I am an officer in the Navy and am training to be a combat pilot and fly Navy jets. So, yeah, pretty interesting life so far. Not because of the Navy but because of my darling wife, Marie, who I love more than the Navy and flying put together (trust me that is a damn near impossibility!).

Yes, so basically, I met Marie in High School and never had the balls to ask her out. I was pretty much pissed at that when the time came for me to date her during college because the woman is just freaking amazing…better than putting five g's on your aircraft! (Think of a rollercoaster times 1000). We really did not start talking until senior year in High School and even then we were just friends…really distant friends. It wasn't until my birthday that I had started developing my feelings for her (this is because she made out with me while I was in a drunken stupor… don't you say a word either! I get enough crap from my friends.) But we kept in touch while she went to the University of Arizona (blaa… what is with colleges and cats huh? Muck Fizzou =P) Anyways, we fell in love with each other and started dating. You know, it was a long distance relationship but, eh, we made it work. I was fine because we talked everyday and texted each other damn near every waking goddamn second (I lost a lot of sleep in college TT). My friends in ROTC loved her to when she came to visit. I don't know why… They always had the stupid idea of adding an "n" into her name when they talked about her… "Hey, Ty, how's 'Marine' doing?" I had a lot of Marine option friends in the program. (Dickheads… heh sike. I love those guys.) And I didn't ask her to marry me until the Joint Service Military Ball here at KU. Her eyes were tearing up and she just smiled and said yes! I was the happiest guy in the world then. The only time I was happier was at my Commissioning ceremony when she helped put on my Ensign shoulder boards onto my choker white Dress uniform. On my other shoulder was my friend Douglas who decided to wear a kilt to that ceremony (the same one he wore to my graduation and my wedding for God knows what reason TT).

We decided that we should get married before I went to flight school. And it was a beautiful ceremony, and a most unique one at that! I really did not have a religion growing up (probably because I was kicked out of Catholic school) so I just decided to go with a traditional Navy wedding. I really always wanted to do that. Then we have Marie…who is a Wiccan. And she wanted to have a Wiccan ceremony. I still remember the day I told her that I was not sure if the Navy would allow us to combine them. Yeah, I slept alone night. I don't get it I didn't even argue… she just got pissed off! Oh well, I looked into it and found out that we could combine them. (I made a pleading case to a Captain that had a mutual feeling of what it was like to sleep on a couch in his own house) So, the Navy signed off on a Navy-Wiccan wedding! Oh man it was great! And Doug had insisted on speaking with a thick, Scottish accent the whole damn time (and that kilt…oh god TT). The best part was after we kissed and Doug jumped out in front and yelled, "Now! Let's Get Pissed!" I escorted my lovely, new wife out of building and we went through the sword arch. My great friend from ROTC and whose going to flight school with me now, John, was on the end and followed through with Navy tradition by slapping Marie on the ass with the blunt end of the sword, (I had to get the point through that if he had cut Marie's dress…she would have impaled him with his own sword!), and said with the biggest grin ever, "Welcome to the Navy, Mrs. Cecil!"

You could still be asking yourself, "Tyler, what about your wife was interesting in your life?" Well, other than the fact that she is an amazing woman who loves me very much and completes me as a person, she is unique. Not unique that she can arch her back very far back and is very flexible like a dancer (which she most certainly is =P), but unique in that she is not like other people. Now that can be said very lightly and guys could say that about their wives all the time, but believe me when I say that Marie is not like other people! Our wedding night was very crazy (you don't get it, we did NOT have sex, not like you'd think, it was more peculiar then it was fun!). Well, let me try to get this out…

We got back to her apartment in Tucson and I carried her in bridal style. And I'm thinking to myself…I am the luckiest guy in the world. I've got a job that I love, I just got married to a wonderful and perfect woman, and in a few months I would be learning how to fly jets…I WAS HAPPY AS A CLAM!! I set her down and she told me to wait while she changed into something more comfortable. Now, at this point I was confused as to what to expect. Marie and I have had a lot of sex prior to getting married and I figured that this time might be different because we were finally married. I had no freaking idea. She came out of her room dressed in something like a track suit get up. Grey sweat pants and a grey U of A zipped up sweatshirt. Her blue and blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail. (She died the tips of her hair blue… don't ask me why! I don't complain I think it is sexy as hell…) I kind of frowned now because of how she was dressed. I more than expected her to emerge wearing some very provocative lingerie.

"Honey, are you all right?" I asked her, more concerned with her well-being than with my sexual frustration.

At first she was complacent, giving me a shrug and nodding her head. I sat down on the couch next to her, slowly. (I was still in my Dinner dress uniform and the tailoring was still fresh. I was afraid it might have ripped) I placed my hand on her back and rubbed her slowly. Marie looked at me deeply, like there was something wrong.

She bit her lip and said, "Um, no matter what you will always be with me right?"

I laughed in the back of my head. Marie was already becoming uneasy and unsecure. It's understandable, I guess. We did take a big step in our relationship today. And from that day forward it was only going to get tougher. Why, with me getting deployed every six months and maybe a couple year-tours in Iraq, and with her doing war photography in the Middle East, I knew things were bound to get frustrating; but no way was I about to give up this amazing woman for anything. Soon, I quickly reexamined that statement. I reassured her that no matter what, she was stuck with me. I was rewarded with a smile. She knew that I always tried to add humor to any situation, and she loved that about me.

"I want to tell you something that I have held back for a long time, Ty. And it is really something that I need to tell you. I just wanted to make sure that you were the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with you." She said as she got up and stood in front of me.

Back then I was your average male college graduate. At the time I was thinking I was going to get a strip tease when she got up, and underneath the bland sweats that there was going to be some really kinky lingerie. Why can't I ever be that lucky? Marie's hands were in her pockets and she was looking like a shy little girl. And then the fact that she had held something from me just registered. I was very curious. As a couple we were always very open about everything and tried not to hold anything back. I didn't know whether to be upset or curious. So, I just sat in silence and gave a look of interest.

The shyness and discomfort remained in her stance. "I know you might be a little upset that I waited this long to tell you but I just needed to make sure," she explained. I nodded. What else could I do? I didn't know what to say. "So, please just be calm when I tell you this, ok, honey?"

I smirked, which didn't help her current mood. It probably made her more nervous, but I actually found the whole thing kind of amusing. "Marie, what is it? I'm not going to be mad or anything. You know, you can tell me whatever it is that's bothering. You probably can't say a lot to upset me at this point. Unless you confess to me that you're actually a guy!" I laughed, trying to ease the mood a little. It didn't work. For probably the first time that we have ever been together, my jokes did not work. My smile quickly diminished as I saw that she just grew more uneasy. Now I was kind of worried. (No I didn't think she was a guy) "What's wrong, hun?"

There were a few seconds of silence. She finally looked up and sighed. "I'm not like other girls, Tyler." Again I nodded my head. Of course, I knew this. I didn't know why she was letting me know that which I have known since the day I met her. Oh boy, I had no idea. "I'm different. There are things about me that make different from everybody. And I have hidden them for so long. Ever since before starting High School I have managed to hide this."

At this point, I was extremely curious. What could I have missed? I didn't think there was anything more to this girl then what I already knew. Was it good? Was it bad? I had to know. "What is it?"

Marie swallowed hard and removed her hands slowly from her pockets and let them hang her side. She looked me deeply in the eye and just said something that would change my life forever. "I'm a demon, Tyler."

Whoa, wait! What just happened? I didn't get it. She was a "demon"? What the hell did that mean? I was so confused at this point, I couldn't think of anything sly to say. "Uh, a demon?" Marie nodded her head to my question. I still didn't get it. Wait… "Wait a minute. A demon? Oh! I get it! This is like some kind of fantasy role-playing thing, right?" Her eyes widened at the statement, like she thought I was joking, when I really wasn't. I still did not have a clue. "So, is that what it is? You want to be domineering tonight? That's cool with me, hun, like I have no problem with that. So, what kind of demon are you?"

Marie was pissed. She gave me that look that said, "If you say another word, I'll rip your tongue out!" I really didn't have a clue. I honestly thought that she wanted to play. "You think this is some kind of joke, Ty? I am being serious. I am a demon. A creature of evil? A twisted and sadistic being that preys off the weak? Are these ringing a bell?" She said.

"Does that mean I'm the human slave guy or something?" I asked, rather innocently I thought.

Marie growled and then she hung her head low and muttered under her breath, "I guess I will just have to show him."

"Show me what, Marie?" I prodded. "What is it?" At this point my patience was starting to deteriorate and I wanted to get to the sex. Man, I should have been more compassionate.

Looking up at me, she mouthed the words "I love you" to me. I furrowed my brow in even more confusion and cocked my head to the side. With that, the room seemed to be getting darker. And I only noticed it for a second because a dark aura began surrounding Marie's figure, and I immediately turned my attention to her. I could hear whispers in the back of my head, the light was beginning to fade from the room and the dark aura began to engulf her. The whispers got louder and louder, until I found myself looking around the dark room for the source of the whispering. Finally I found myself sitting in silence and darkness. I could not see a damn thing. Instantly, my adrenaline was flowing and my blood was pumping. In fact the only thing I could hear now was the throbbing from my own heartbeat. My Navy combat instincts were kicking in and my body tensed up, ready for whatever awaited me in the darkness. Then I remembered the love of my life was in here somewhere. I still did not know what the hell was going on.

"Marie?" I whispered at first. _Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. _I was answered only by my own heartbeat. I repeated myself, this time louder. "Marie?"

And in voice that creepily matched the darkness that engulfed the room, a female voice, replied, "I'm right here, Tyler." Right in front of me, where the voice originated, two blood red orbs stared at me. The only visible light in the room came from these blood red cat-like eyes that stared at me deeply. My pulse quickened and I was at a loss of words. That voice almost sounded like my darling Marie's, except it was far darker and …hungrier. "I can almost feel the heat of your blood flowing through your veins. Are you ready for this, sweetheart?"

Again, I could not say anything. I still did not have a grasp on what was going on. And the darkness began to fade, light began to pour slowly into the room, but only enough so it was dimly lit. Only my eyes moved as I scanned the room, looking for a tactical solution to the situation I was currently in. Over 200 years of Navy tactics would not prepare me for what… for _who_… was standing in front me. A soft whimper escaped my lips as I tried to mutter what I saw no in front of me. "Marie?"

I was rewarded with a seductive smile from the woman I loved. At least, I thought this was the woman I loved. Standing now In front of me, clad in a black leather bikini, was my wife. There were a lot of differences though with the girl I married earlier that day and the scary, yet sexy, woman that stared at me hungrily with blood red eyes. A dangerous looking scarlet tail moved gracefully behind her, almost as if it were stalking me. The very same hands that she kept in her pockets moments before now had black razor looking claws for fingernails. She smiled at me and I noticed the demonic incisors that one would have thought reserved for vampires or something else that had fangs. And then the eyes… Blood red orbs with black, cat-like pupils looked me up from foot to head. Her hair was wilder now with the blonde and blue looking more vibrant. I didn't know whether to be turned on or scared to death. Sadly to say I was both.

"Surprise!" this new demon lady had said, her voice now sounding exactly like Marie's. I didn't say a word, and she gave me a look of sadness. "Aw, what? You don't like this? I thought the bikini would be a nice touch." The demon lady then replaced her frown with a devious grin.

It was my turn to swallow hard now. I licked my lips, trying to build the courage to say something! "Am I dreaming?" I asked. It was all I could think of.

The new demonic Marie touched her cheek with her index claw and looked up, as if searching for an answer. "Hmm, I don't think so." She looked back at me and smiled deviously again. "This is your lucky night, Ty."

Immediately, my courage and strength returned to me. I got up and jumped behind the couch and faced Marie again. I didn't give a damn if I was in uniform or not now. I had a perceivable threat. "What the fuck? Is that really you, Marie?"

She nodded, like an innocent little school girl. "Yeah. Why? Don't you recognize your own wife?"

"Um, I think you have changed since earlier today." I said, looking her up and down again. I was observing the threat…and undressing her with my eyes. (What? Like I said, I'm a normal guy)

"This is what I was worried about!" She said, disappointed as she dropped back on the couch to her rear. She rested her head on her hands, which rested her knees. "I was worried that you freak out like this!" Again, she looked at me. Her eyes were so mesmerizing at this point. I couldn't help but stare. "I'm still the same girl you married. This is my true form though!"

I was laughing in the back of my head. There was no way this was happening. "Are you serious? Like, you are really a demon?"

"Yes! What do you think this all is?!"

Cautiously, I moved slowly around the couch again and sat back down. "I thought it was a game, but I guess not. How did this happen?"

Marie gave out a sigh. She went on this longwinded rant about how it was a curse in her family that started with maturity and stuff. She explained some of her powers, like mind manipulation and fireballs and the whole nine yards that you would expect demons to have. Then she looked at me, almost pouting, the whole puppy dog look, and said "Does this change anything?"

It was an honest question, one that took me a long time to answer. I never expected anything like this to happen to me. My wedding night just turned into something you would see in a late-night Japanese cartoon. My wife, the person that I just vowed to devote myself no matter what, just turned demonic. This changed the equation of my life entirely from this point. And this couldn't be a dream. No way in hell was it a dream…I mean her clothes were still on! And why the hell should I have suffered? This is not my fault! Marie chose not to tell me and she expects me to just accept this change…one that could change my life completely. Was I ok with this? …what the hell was I thinking!? Of course I was! I just married the most amazing and most attractive woman in the known galaxy! And she turned out to be a demon…something I've fantasized about since I was a teenager! Fuckin' A, man!

I looked at Marie as sincere as I could, more serious than I was when I took my oath (to support and defend the constitution of the United States of America and all that good stuff!) at my commissioning ceremony and when I asked her to marry me and when I said I do. "Marie, I love you more than anything. I love you more than the Navy; I love you more than life itself. The only thing I've ever wanted was to be with you. And I told you that nothing will ever change that. Not even this…in fact I see this as an expansion of your beauty! I love you, honey!"

That just ate her up. Her red eyes glistened slightly as she inhaled and just let out a long aww. Marie looked as she were about to cry. I guess I made her really happy. I kind of always did have a way with words. So, I looked at the situation now from a tactical viewpoint. The target was momentarily incapacitated so I knew that it was my chance to strike. I stood and walked over to her, the sensation of me wanting her growing with every step; my breath growing heavy and almost growling as I drew near to her. Marie stood to mirror my advancement.

I gently dried her beautiful eyes with my hands. And, not being able to take the feelings anymore, I grabbed her leather-bikini clad body and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. We closed our eyes and just let ourselves delve into each other. That was the best kiss I ever had in my life. It was so much more passionate than the first time we had sex or after I asked her to marry me. There was just something about it, something about her aura that just drove me crazy and made me crave every inch of her body.

I squeezed her waist firmly as I used my tongue to lightly flick her fangs. This was probably not the smartest idea as I got the impression that she could bite her way through the bulkhead on a warship. I didn't care. She was just so damned sexy and I wanted her… I wanted her so bad it hurt. Ow! It did hurt. As I held her side, she placed her hands on my arms and squeezed as I did her. The claws and just utter strength of my demon wife was amazing. Marie did something she was never able to do before…she hurt me! I didn't care. I was enjoying myself too much. I felt like I was in utter bliss. And her tongue…

My tongue longed tirelessly for hers and I was surprised when I discovered it. My eyes snapped open when I felt the forked shape of a serpents tongue in her mouth. Out of shock, I pulled away and just breathed even heavier. Marie did the same, apparently enjoying the kiss we just shared. She just rubbed her hips and looked at me seductively, eating me up with those ruby-like spheres in her skull. Marie stuck her tongue out at me, teasing me with that black, forked appendage that seemed to get longer and longer. If I wasn't turned on before, I was now.

"Wow," it was all I could say. I was nearly breathless; all I could do was just look her up and down again and again. Up to this point, the sex had been fucking awesome, worthy of only the best porno. Now that she was a demon and had her powers and everything I could only imagine what Marie could do to me.

She chuckled at me in amusement. "You like that, baby?" I nodded like an idiot, not even thinking with my head…well not the smart one at least. "It's our wedding night; don't you think we should consummate this thing?"

I shuddered. I actually shuddered. The only other time I did that was when I had lost my virginity and I was young and got freaked out. With Marie just standing there, giving off whatever she was giving off, I was about to just explode. She walked back up to me and put her arms around me. I could have died just then, you know?

"Why don't we get you out of this cute uniform and into something more comfortable…like nothing?" she gave me a soft kiss on the lips. I wasn't paying attention so I didn't return it. I was too deep in thought thinking of what was about to happen. Marie trailed soft kisses down my jaw and onto my neck and brushed her fangs very gently against it. A moan escaped my lips…it felt so fucking good! She giggled, knowing how crazy she was driving me.

She bent my head down so she had full access to the back of my neck. At first she blew softly, which was more than enough to make me go insane and squirm like child. (Yeah, um, my spot is the back of my neck in case you wondering =P) Then she planted soft kisses on it, making me shudder and moan uncontrollably. She bit my neck gently but enough to draw little bits of blood, which she quickly cleaned up with her forked tongue. I was in pure ecstasy!

I opened my eyes to find that we were in a different room. Somehow, we moved to the bedroom without moving. I don't know. I really didn't want to stop to analyze. All I wanted was to just tear into her with a passion that she never experienced before from me. And somehow my uniform was off and I stood there in my boxer shorts, her claws running over my toned chest and chiseled stomach. It hurt a little, and I think I started to bleed once more, but that tongue took care of it. I wasn't sure but I didn't think there was a limit to how far she could extend it.

After pushing me onto the bed, and slowly crawling onto of me, purring like an animal in heat, I finally started to think and analyze the situation. (Damn you Brain for starting to be clear!) At first, it seemed like a dream and then I realized that this was really happening and I was about to be sexually ravished by a demon. I guess I was really emotional for I was getting worried. I always remembered reading about the female demons that would trick men into sex for their souls and for a second I was thinking that Marie was one of these succubae. (I hate myself now for stopping; I should have just let her take me!)

I put my hands on her shoulders and pushed a bit and said, "Hold on, hun." Immediately, she stopped and gave me a look of concern.

"What's wrong, baby?" She gasped and looked at me with more care. "Am I hurting you too much? It doesn't feel good?"

I shook my head. "No, it feels fucking great. It's just… I don't know."

"Bullshit! Tell me," she said. She always pushed me into telling her what was wrong, another thing I loved about her. She (if I may quote from Dane Cook) always "ninjad" my brain.

"I hate to admit it. I might be a little scared because you have this incredible power and stuff and I'm just a human and I'm kind of weak compared to you and…you might try to take my soul," I explained, sounding kind of childish and innocent, like I normally do so as not to provoke her. (Which is how I acted _before_ I knew she was a demon, yeah I'm kind of whipped, so what! It keeps me from sleeping by myself)

And, to my surprise, Marie busted out laughing tremendously! I furrowed my brow and gave a look that said "Dude! What the fuck!" She shook her head and started apologizing. "Honey! Don't be scared!" She said as she tried to comfort me by rubbing my chest. "If you want I can be very gentle so I don't hurt you. And you already gave me your soul, willingly, today in that church." She winked at me, which turned me straight back on.

I chuckled a little. "Yeah, babe. You're right. I'm sorry, it's just…this is a lot for me to take in."

"I know, sweetie. And it's kind of my fault. I did kind of jump into it kind of quickly, but…can you blame me?" she asked looking all sexy and everything. "You make me so hot with your red hair and sexy muscles and your cute butt." Again she giggled, like a horny little schoolgirl.

Of course, I smiled. I could feel the heat fill my cheeks as I blushed and beamed. I absolutely loved it whenever she flattered me like this. Marie always knew how to make me feel great about myself. And she actually thought these things about me; she didn't just say it to make me feel good about it. She was genuine in almost every aspect of her life…except for this whole demon thing, but I think I can forgive her just this once.

I chuckled, not knowing what else to do, besides smile. Marie was pretty good at manipulating me and I always ended up giving in to her desires and needs, especially now that she was my wife and a being of unsurpassed power that could rip me to shreds should she yearn for that. Anyways, I nodded and rubbed her hand that laid on my chest a bit and patted it. I said, "Ok, baby. Let's do this."

Marie smiled seductively again, in approval. She rubbed my chest a little more firmly and leaned back up to kiss me again. The feelings of lust and ecstasy re-entered my mind as she kissed me even more passionately. I didn't know if these feelings were real or she was using some kind of demonic aura to influence the way I felt and put images of desire and passion into my brain… I really didn't care at this point, all I wanted was her.

"Oh, god!" I moaned, breaking the kiss. Marie trailed kissed down my bare chest and stomach and clawing very lightly. I could feel the forked tongue everywhere her mouth went. It felt all very delightful as she got closer and closer to my boxers, which she started to take off with her fangs. The plaid cotton shorts ripped instantly as her razor like fangs tore through them.

My whole body was now exposed to this demon that I had devoted my life and soul to. She smiled at me wickedly and gazed upon me with such a piercing stare of hunger. I knew that she didn't just lust for me and the sex that was yet to come; she wanted me because she was in love with me, and I was just fine with that.

Marie started to pleasure me with her mouth and tongue. I was instantly filled completely with ecstasy and desire for my wife. I don't know what had happened but at that instant I felt seconds away from an orgasm. I jerked and twitched and shuddered as I grabbed hold of the bed post and tried to catch my breath. It was like every single nerve ending on my body was stimulated. I was in utter bliss; I could hear giggling from her as continued to work herself on me.

The pleasure was so intense it felt almost painful, but those sensations were quickly ebbed and replaced by pure elation. I didn't know how much time was going by. All I knew that an orgasm was imminent and I think she somehow kept me from finishing so the experience could be prolonged. I moaned and breathed hard and said things that said I was satisfied. At one point, she got on top of me and began to ride me wildly, saying sweet things to me but looking so seductively. There was so much chemistry between us, I felt more connected to her than the first time we had sex. I guess she was right, to fully experience the passion and romance between us I had to experience _her_ in her true form. Oh, god how right she was!

Marie rode me like a stallion and when I wasn't gripping the bed posts; my hands were rubbing on her everywhere I could reach. She bent down and kissed me passionately and smiled right before she got back up and rode me. Marie moaned and whimpered with pleasure as she proclaimed how good it felt and how good I was. It was like in heaven, and at times, it really felt like we were in a different place besides our bedroom! One time I felt like we were in a rainforest, like the Amazon or something, and then another time it felt like we were on a beach and another I felt like we were in this dark, fiery underworld and other demons watched as Marie and I mated. It was the most amazing/odd experience in my life.

And suddenly, after we were about an hour into it, I could feel the feeling of my orgasm drawing near. Marie probably released her power on it so that I could climax. I told her, too, that I was going to finish. All she said was ok and bent over to kiss me passionately and trail them down near my shoulder. And then the most amazing/painful thing ever happened in my life. My orgasm came on and it felt like it was amplified by at least 100 times. In fact I think it was safe to say that it was exponential compared to the other times I had sex with Marie. And then, right as I started to climax, Marie bit down as hard as she could into the top of my shoulder almost at the base of my neck, barely missing the artery.

Blood trickled down from both puncture wounds created by Marie's razor like fangs and glistened in the light along with the rest of the sweat on our bodies. I moaned and shrieked both in pain and pleasure. It was an incredible balance to create perfect harmony in my head. I had never experienced a sensation such as the one I did right then. My eyes opened and I stared straight at the ceiling. Everything, all sounds, all colors, all lights, everything in my perception seemed to fade and time seemed to slow at that point…and I could _feel_ Marie. Its hard to explain, but when everything seemed to dull away from reality, I could feel her soul, her essence, her being, whatever you want to call it, I felt it intertwine with me and every part of me. All of her emotions, her thoughts and desires, her dreams… They instantly appeared and were almost burned into mind. It was incredible.

Everything seemed to subside and reality began to catch back up with me (or was it the other way around) and Marie detached herself and fell to my side and just lay there, making sounds that gave she was utterly satisfied. She giggled and smiled and said how wonderful it was and in fact it truly was, yet somehow I was at a loss of words and in complete confusion. Where Marie had bitten, it had felt…odd. There was no pain, just a powerful aura that was given off by it. I could sense it in the wound and in my head. I had no clue what she had done to me. And as if she were reading my thought, Marie leaned over and whispered softly into my ear, "Now, you belong to me…_meine Liebe_."

Then it clicked. I read about Japanese demons biting their mates and "marking" at their first mating and binding them together for eternity. It was kind of the same thing as marriage only more serious as well as extreme. So, I guess that was it then. Marie and I were destined to be together till the end of time. And I really did not have a problem with that, especially if we had more nights like that one.

"Was that good baby?" Marie asked, still smiling.

I chuckled softly, regardless of the extremely odd bite I just received. "That was the most magnificent I have ever felt, Marie." I turned towards her face and stared into her cat-like eyes.

"Aww, thank you baby." She leaned over and kissed me softly on the forehead. "I love you, Ty."

I smiled and softly replied. "I love you too."

Sunlight dimly filled the room as the ultraviolet rays of light penetrated the blinds and began to illuminate parts of the dark bedroom. The light traced up Tyler's silhouette and raised to his eyes, just enough light to stir him out of his sleep. He inhaled deeply through his nose and slowly opened his eyes to find himself alone in the bedroom underneath the light, ruffled covers. Looking to his left and his right, Tyler carefully sat up and instantly was rewarded with a sharp pain running from his shoulder, to his neck, and distributed throughout his entire body. It was equal, maybe even a bit worse, to how he felt when he was hung over on some mornings after crazy parties.

He winced and rubbed his left shoulder and felt two puncture scars that were evenly spaced apart and in perfect line to each other. _What the…?_ Tyler thought as he rubbed his fingers over what looked to be two bite marks. _There's no fucking way!_

Ensign Tyler Cecil rose from his place of slumber and looked himself up and down in the mirror, disregarding the fact that he was completely in the nude. Red hair sat atop a face that was covered lightly with almost transparent freckles and light skin. His almost-mint colored eyes traced every curve of his body, examining what damage had been done. Hints of red facial hair appeared on his upper lip and chin, signs of him not shaving in some time. His well toned body was covered in claw marks: groups of four parallel, crimson slashes in different parts of his chest and stomach. Turning around and glancing at his back, he found that the claw marks were on his back and upper shoulders. The other significant mark on his body, other than bite on his shoulder, was the group of tattoos on the left side of his back. In a vertical line from top to bottom, were the ten virtues of the samurai in ancient Japanese text. _Benevolence, Bravery, Filial Piety, Honesty, Fidelity, Honor, Justice, Loyalty, Respect, and Wisdom…_

Tyler thought back to the night before that he honestly thought that was just a dream. The night of crazy and wild (and somewhat painful yet pleasurable) sex, his wife transforming into a dark being, the bite… He thought it was all a wet dream, some vision he got while having sex with his newly wed wife in a drunken stupor. Apparently, Tyler was wrong. And something sort of did not feel right anyways because his wife, the thing he cherished more than anything (even the new gold bars on his uniform), was nowhere to be seen.

Without giving anything any further though, Tyler threw some black sleeping pants on to cover up his endowment, and because he felt a little cold being just in his birthday suit, and made his way into the rest of the house. He took a few steps into the living area and stopped dead in his tracks and stood erect and alert. Looking as if he just saw the devil _herself_, he watched carefully as his wife sat on the couch, playing with her MacBook. The shock came from the fact that she looked different from the night before. She actually looked normal. There was no tail, no fangs, no razor like claws, no cat eyes; no dark aura coming from her…she looked the same, almost the same, as the day they first met.

Marie sat in grey form-fitting sweat pants and a black tank-top with her white bra straps hanging out. Her beautiful, blue eyes scanned the screen of her computer with pure efficiency.

Her blonde hair was put up in a ponytail as she rested her head on her hand as she did whatever menial task on the laptop computer. Finally noticing her husband standing in before her, she lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Good morning, baby!" She said, full of energy and compassion. Detecting the uneasiness coming from Tyler, she frowned and asked in German, "_Was ist_?"

Stammering over his own words, Tyler looked down at his clawed body and said, "Um…did you do this?" He gestured towards the claw marks and looked at Marie for an answer.

Nodding and getting all hyper like a little girl, she said really fast, "Uh-huh", almost playfully.

"Ok," was all Tyler could say. He searched his mind for a second, looking for a question for his wife. "Um, so last night was not a dream?"

Again, with a playful shake of her head she replied, "Uh-uh." Tyler scratched his head and slowly walked over to his wife and sat himself down next to her. Marie smiled brightly at him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Wasn't it wonderful though, Ty?"

Tyler chuckled almost manically. "Um, yes that was the best sex I've ever had in my whole life baby. And I love you more than anything, but….that means you really are a demon."

"_Na und?"_

Again, Tyler laughed. "Ok, baby."

"Honey, this doesn't change anything. I still love you and I'm never going to let anything happen to you because you are all mine." She placed her hand on his shoulder, right over the bite marks which healed instantly to look just like scars, and rubbed. "No one is going to take you away from me."

Tyler cocked his head and smiled slyly. "So, that whole bite mark seals the deal then, huh?"

Marie nodded. "Um, yea, the whole wedding thing was just a big formal thing. The bite will keep you mine until the sun goes out."

"You mean go nova. And which could quite possibly happen soon. You never know it happens a lot, babe." He replied without missing a beat.

Marie shook her head and laughed and hit him in the head softly and playfully. "You know what? You are such a dork. God! You need to stop watching Star Trek so much"

Tyler chuckled. "Why? I like it. And your parents like it. Maybe that's why it bothers you so much?"

"Maybe. So what? At least I don't _still _have a phaser!"

"Ha!" Tyler scoffed. "There was a point in time where there was one in your immediate presence that you could have picked up and played with."

"Yeah, hun. Um, that was definitely my mom's." Marie replied.

"It doesn't matter!" Tyler laughed hard, completely forgetting about the claw marks and the bite and the fact his wife was a demon. "You know what? You still love me."

Marie tittered. "Yes, I do."

And with that said, Tyler and Marie drew each other into a deep passionate kiss, which seemed to last for a long time. They broke for a breath and just looked into each other's eyes, mesmerized by both their beauty and their uniqueness.

"Anyways," Tyler started. "The bite…It feels weird. Like, it's not that it hurts. It's just that I feel, like, a presence or some kind of aura coming from it. Do you know anything about that?" He rubbed gently around the spot that Marie had bitten the previous night, her eyes following every movement of his hand on his shoulder.

Marie smiled and murmured an "hmm". "Yes, but aren't you the big master of demons with that little diploma of yours?" She giggled again.

Tyler looked at her with a look of irritation. He always remembered how much of a hard time she had given him about the particular concentration he decided to undertake. Marie liked to joke a lot and make fun of him about how much of a dork Tyler was, and she loved him dearly for it. The concentration included classes that focused mainly on Japanese folklore about demons and other mythological creatures. There were times when they sat and watched the anime that Tyler loved to watch so very much and he would explain to Marie the different kinds of aspects about the demons in the television and how they corresponded with the past. Obviously, this was done in vain as Marie knew far more than he ever would hope to achieve in a lifetime. She always just smiled and nodded…

"So, every time I would talk about it with you, you just sat there and smiled knowing a completely different thing?" Tyler asked.

"Well, um, kind of, hun. I must say I am impressed with a lot of things you have told me about demons. A lot of is true and the rest is left up to speculation, but other than that you are very enthusiastic about my kind, sweetheart." Marie gave him another sweet little kiss on the cheek.

"Yea, but still," Tyler replied still looking slightly irritated. "You know how much I was into learning about demons. You could have helped me and it would have been so great, because you know and feel and can do all these things, and it would have been great help with my term paper, and…oh…" Tyler looked at Marie and noticed her increasing irritation.

Looking aggravated herself, Marie replied, "Oh, so that's all I am to you is a research project, hun?"

Tyler widened his eyes as he started to get afraid. He wasn't stupid enough to make her any angrier, especially now that he knew she was a demon. Giving a nervous laugh, he tried to calm her down, "Now, hunny, you know that's not what I meant. I was just saying, you could have helped me a lot because you're so awesome, sweetheart!"

Marie laughed, looking at him all seductively. "That's right, babe. And you know I'm just giving you a hard time."

"As usual," Tyler muttered under his breath.

Without missing a beat, Marie said, "What?!"

"Oh, nothing, baby."

"Bullshit! You can't lie to me… I'll kill you," said Marie in a very playful voice. Of course, once again, she was only kidding.

Tyler laughed again. "But anyways, trying to get back to the matter at hand, _darling_," he started. Marie was always good at going off on tangents and, again, "ninjaing" his brain. "What about the bite?"

"Are you feeling tenderness or anything at all like that?" She asked.

Tyler shook his head. "No, it doesn't hurt. Well, at least not right now. I mean, it was like a bitch last night, but now it's just this cool sensation that, for some reason, puts images of you in my head."

Marie lit up at this statement. "Really?"

"Uh, yeah. It's weird, actually. I can feel this aura coming off the bite and it just fills me with a sensation that just…I don't know reminds me of you. Like, sometimes it will fill me with scents of you and I can actually sense your smell a little." Tyler explained.

"Wow!" Marie was actually excited. She sat up and widened her eyes and smiled. "That's way more than I thought it would do. Wow." She trailed off.

Tyler gave a look of confusion. "Um, you weren't sure what was going to happen, were you?"

"Um, no." Marie gave a look of partial shame and innocence. Her husband scoffed, shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose, laughing in slight awe. "What?" Marie asked.

"You're the demon in the relationship, you tell me? What did you think was going to happen when you bite me?"

"Well, you know that once a demon bites their mate they are bound together with them forever, right?" Marie asked.

Tyler nodded. Of course he knew it. He had taken a whole class about Japanese Ghosts and Demons in college. "Yeah, babe. I do know that."

"Well, some of the things they probably don't teach you in that course is that it is also supposed to lure off other females and keep them away from you." She said looking all sly.

Tyler gave a blank look of irritation. "You bit me, so that girls would keep their hands off of me? I figured that's what my wedding band would be for."

Marie laughed. "No. I'm not worried about mortal women. Your ring and my claws will take care of them sure enough." Tyler widened his eyes more, thinking about the poor female soul who would sign her death warrant by even making one pass at him. "It is more geared for demons and such."

"So…female demons then?"

"Well…_all _demons, honey."

Tyler furrowed his brow. "_All _demons? What you mean it's supposed to keep away the males too?" He said with some sort of alarm in his voice.

Marie giggled. "Hey, your sexiness does not discriminate at all: species, race, age _or _gender."

Her husband twitched panicky at the mere idea of what she was getting at. "Honey, I definitely don't think I'm hot enough to attract the gay demons, ok?"

"Hey! You are extremely hot! And it doesn't have to be gay demons… There are bi ones too, you know? You should know. And wouldn't that be cool? If we got a bi one, that way I could play with him too. Oh!" She giggled again as she trailed off. A look of sheer terror came over his face as Tyler stared off, trying to remain calm. "Aw, baby, you know I'm just kidding. There is no thing that is going to take you away from me." With that, she put her arms around Tyler's side.

"I hope so. So is that all the bite will do?" Tyler asked, relaxing a bit more at the soft touch of his wife.

"Um, yeah. It should be the only thing. I mean, they would have to get close and they will feel the same aura you sense right now and they know that you are taken. Only the foolish ones will keep trying for you, but they tend to be the creepier ones." Marie explained.

"Well, pussy is pussy, according to Doug at least." Tyler remarked, unintelligently in fact.

Marie gave him another blank, irritable stare as she backed off a little. "Oh really?"

Tyler chuckled. "I love you, sweetheart." He said jokingly (not what he said, but what he said before that).

"I know," Marie said sweetly as she got close again and brushed her lips against his ear and breathed heavily, "Because I can tear you apart, hun."

"You _are _joking, right, Marie?" Tyler asked, laughing nervously.

"Well, I don't think that is one joke you want to test," She said, flexing her claws so they became razor sharp at that point. "Do you, honey?"

Tyler widened his eyes and gulped. "Um, as big of a turn on as that is, I don't think so."

Her hand turning back to normal, she giggled. "You are so weird, but I love you. I'm going to go get some coffee, do you want some baby?" She asked getting up off the couch.

"Um, yeah, sure honey. Please." Tyler said as politely as he could.

Giggling, she walked off to the kitchen. "Ok, baby."

The thing about Marie was she was not anything like any stereotypical girlfriend you would normally think about. She is the kind of girl that would only ever make dinner for you if you asked very nicely. Other than that, she didn't do anything special or favors or whatever for you. Occasionally, she would do some things for you when you asked in the absolutely most polite way you can. Tyler didn't know if that would change now that they were married, especially since he knew that she was a demon but he didn't want to push the matter. He survived the past four years like that and he figured he could do it for as long as it took before she wanted to start doing more things for him involuntarily.

Once Marie walked fully out of view, Tyler loosened his stance greatly and slouched on the couch, still groggy from sleep and exhaustion. Sex with a demon really took a lot out of you. Tyler had been exposed to four years of Navy and Marine Corps physical fitness under the instruction of a battle-hardened Marine Gunnery Sergeant and usually he could keep up and not feel as tired, but last night was unlike anything. Tyler almost felt like he had just run a marathon. It was actually kind of funny.

Tyler just sat back and thought about life now. _Damn it, I always feel like this after a big event._ Normally, he would always get worked up and happy and motivated about events that were a big deal. His first day of college, his commissioning ceremony, the wedding… Every day up until the day it happened, he got so anxious and nervous and excited and once it happened, he kind of just regarded it as a shrug in his life, because he kind of almost didn't have anything to look forward to. And he felt that way right now. Of course he had flight school to look forward to but that was nearly another half a year away, just about.

The only thing to do in between then and now was to just relax and live with his wife. Actually, he still needed to work on that. See, Tyler had not fully talked to, let alone convince, Marie about living with him in Kansas near the University. Marie hated Kansas with a passion almost. This was mainly due to the fact that it was a proving ground for tornados and even though Tyler had not seen one in his four years of living there, Marie was still not convinced. The Navy had placed Tyler in a waiting state at the University of Kansas until his class opened at Pensacola, so until then he would act as a liaison officer to the active duty staff. And he loved that idea, but he didn't think Marie favored it so much. In fact, he had no clue what she wanted to do until they had to move to Florida.

_I shouldn't worry about it. If what she says is true then she won't leave me, even over something stupid like this. I think I can convince her to come live with me in Kansas. At least I hope I can. Aw, fuck. She's a demon. She could live in Arizona and blink to me in an instant if she wanted to. All I can do now is look forward to a relaxing life until I have to go to flight school. And I have the love of my life with me, so there's nothing I should worry about. Nothing can go wrong now._

Boy, he sure was wrong about that….

Tyler could hear conversation come from the kitchen. At first, he dismissed it as just simple ambience from the television, and then remembered that there was no television. A radio perhaps? Both suggestions fled from his mind as he tuned into one of the voices and recognized it to be his wife's. Looking more curious now, Tyler sat up from the couch and moved slowly toward the kitchen, trying to make as little movement as possible so he could hear what was taking place. There were two distinct voices: one belonging to his wife and the other belonging to what sounded like an older, domineering male.

Alarm rose inside his head as he stepped into the kitchen and saw his wife standing there with a concerned look on her face. Approximately four feet from Marie was the other voice. A tall, older looking (not too much older) man stood erect in a blue Air Force uniform. Tyler noticed the tall stack of campaign ribbons and medals that sat atop the left breast pocket of the jacket. Looking higher, he saw the silver eagles on the shoulders of the man: a full bird Colonel. Above the stack of ribbons were the silver wings signifying he is an aviator and above that was the globe with a key on it. Tyler remembered that the key signified he was in the intelligence division.

Military instinct took over in Tyler's head, as he stood at attention, the confusion still hanging in the back of his head. He was in total disregard to the fact that he was only in his sleeping pants. His wife did not share the same respectful stance towards the man. Marie never really did have respect for a lot of the people in the military, mainly because she always refused control and was very liberal and "free".

"Good morning, Colonel," Tyler greeted, a look of minor confusion on his face.

The Colonel nodded, and Marie kept her stance; one hip cocked out with her hand on it and one hand resting firmly on the countertop and her head to the side staring rebelliously at the Air Force officer. Tyler knew that he was probably a spook from the pentagon since he was an intelligence officer, but he totally disregarded the man's face; he just noticed the uniform and the officer insignia so he just let navy instinct take over. The Colonel had a very interesting look for him: his hair was silver, not gray like you'd expect on old people. It shined in the overhead light. His eyes were an eerie looking gray color, almost unnatural looking. This confused Tyler even more… he almost did not look human.

"Good morning, Ensign Cecil," the Colonel spoke, not making any change in his stance. His voice sounded low and dark. It did not sound aged, like his appearance predicted it would.

"Forgive me, sir, but what are you doing here?" Tyler asked, breaking his bearing only slightly.

A smile pursed on the Colonel's lips, slightly evil looking. "I just wanted to chat with you're lovely wife." He answered looking Marie up and down.

Tyler was normally a jealous person, and he got worked up when people flirted with Marie. He wasn't going to let anything try to take his baby away from him, and he'd be damned if this old man was going to try anything funny with Marie…even if the son of a bitch was a Colonel. He was still in the Air Force.

"I don't quite understand, sir," Tyler said. His stance was changing once again. It shifted from the junior naval officer to that of a threatened animal that was protecting his mate. His voice sounded more challenging as well.

"It's simple, really Ensign." The Colonel started. "The Defense Department, specifically Air Force Intelligence, has some questions for Marie and we just wanted her to come and speak with us."

Tyler looked at Marie, furrowing his brow. "Marie, what is going on?"

"I'm not going with you, Hunter." She said, ignoring her husband.

Tyler didn't give the Colonel a chance to rebuke. "Marie, you know this man?"

Again, Marie ignored her husband, addressing the real threat in her eyes. "I don't care what the rest of them think. I'm tired of following tradition. I love him and nothing is going to hurt him…not even me…"

"Not another word Marie!" the Colonel barked. "It's bad enough you married him and slept with him."

Tyler was starting to get pissed off. "Hey! What the hell is going on?"

Colonel, Hunter, whatever he was called looked in Tyler's direction. "Your wife is coming with me. We have…_things _to deal with."

"Like hell she is! My wife is not going anywhere without me, _sir_," Tyler said. His hands were curled into balls. Marie glanced back slightly and smiled at her husband. She probably loved the idea of how hostile he was getting in her defense.

"Well, I can arrange that, Ensign," the Colonel said and looked to something that was behind Tyler.

Tyler started to look behind him. He heard a brief shriek from Marie but couldn't quite make out what it was. Tyler was too preoccupied with the rifle butt that was inches from his face, and few more seconds made the difference. _SMACK!_ Tyler grunted with pain as everything became dark and hot as he lost consciousness and fell to the floor. Reality faded from his life as he went into a deep, painful slumber.

"_Stupid boy…"_ The last words he heard before fully passing out. The Colonel would pay…

_What the hell happened?_

_My head should hurt so badly… but I can't feel it somehow. Everything feels numb. Why was that Colonel there and what does he want with Marie? I'm going to be severely pissed once I wake up. Man, I didn't even hear that guy coming from behind. And how the hell did he get in? There's only one door. Whatever, what happened, happened. I need to wake up but I can't. Marie? I'm so sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you, baby! Marie! What's this? Oh god! The bite mark! It hurts! GOD! What the hell? I feel like my shoulder is on fire! Oh god damnit! _

Tyler….

_Marie? Is that you baby? Honey, where are you? All I see is darkness. And god, this bite mark burns! Fuck what the hell?!_

Calm down baby, you need to be strong…

_Marie… Where are you? What is going on? _

They've taken me…I don't know where…

_I'm going to help you babe… As soon as I wake up, I'm going to come for you. And once I get my hands on that son of bitch flyboy motherfucker! Grrr!_

His name is Hunter. He is a very powerful demon from the Dark Realm.

_What? A demon? Within the Defense Department?_

I don't know what he wants with me, but it has to do with the both of us.

_Where are you? Where am I? Oh, baby, I want to help._

Calm down. Wait for me, Ty. I will come for you. Be strong.

_Marie. Marie? She's gone. What the hell is going on? What does she mean? If there are demons within the Military, things cannot be good, especially if they are working for Military Intelligence. Oh, man I feel so exhausted and numb…. Marie…._

Consciousness flooded back into the body of Tyler. Everything started to return to him in a dull, numb haze. Memories, feelings, emotions…they were all dulled down, it seemed, from being knocked out. Tyler never really was knocked out before in his life, at least not this badly. It took a lot of energy for him to even open his eyes, everything was stiff or numb. He could not even feel his legs; he could sense them there, but just could barely move them.

Opening his eyes slowly, he looked down at his blanketed body. Tyler found himself stationary atop what seemed to be a hospital bed. There was a thin blanket draped over his pale, weak body, which was clothed in an even thinner, pale blue hospital gown. He tried turning his stiff neck to the left and to the right to try and examine his surroundings.

It was not like a normal hospital. There was no window in the room, just a mirror than gave off ghostly and dark images that would surely have frightened a young child, should they be in this room. This was due to the fact of the lack of light. The lights imbedded in the ceiling gave off an extremely dull illumination. It kind of made Tyler want to go back to sleep. It was so quiet, giving off an extremely eerie vibe about the room.

Tyler looked to his left forearm, an IV needle and tube sticking out of the appendage. He had no clue what kind of hospital this was or what was going on, but he wanted to make it a point to try and figure out what the hell was going on. _And find my wife…_ Tyler did his best to raise his shaking right hand over to the IV needle and yanking it out. He grunted in pain as blood seeped from the ripped needle hole. Taking a deep breath, he ripped the heart monitors off his chance. To his surprise, there was no continuous beep from the flat line.

With the blood and energy returning to the rest of his body, it was easier for him to move. His legs were still no in condition for anything, so Tyler had to throw himself off the hospital bed. The meter or so drop left him in pain as he landed on his side and growled in pain. He started to rub and pound on his legs to get the blood flowing completely back to them. His eyesight returning more clearly and sharply, Tyler examined the room more. _That's funny. Usually a nurse or come when someone flatlines, because, oh I don't know, it usually means they are going to die. I'm glad they care about me so much. _

His legs recovered within minutes and Tyler wobbly tried to stand up, one hand bracing himself on the hospital bed. There was a chill going throughout his spine. The warm blood rushing through his veins started to heat his body, but being almost bare-naked and in an air conditioned room he felt cold. Finally getting back to reality, adrenaline started to rush throughout his body as he finally started to regain what had happened before he awoke in this cold, dark room.

Tyler felt around his left eye and noticed a slight scar. _How did it heal so quickly?_ The logical explanation was that they must have knocked him out and kept him unconscious for a period of time. He ran his hand though his high-and-tight red hair, and rubbed the back of his neck and drew it back down to his shoulder, right over the bite mark. Tyler noticed the burning sensation he had felt in the dream when Marie was talking to him was gone…_Marie._

The adrenaline went on full-flow throughout his body as he thought of the Air Force Colonel that had wanted his wife and wanted to take her away. Without even thinking, Tyler began walking towards the door of the room, a very pissed off look on his face. _I told you I was going to be pissed once I woke up. _He began remembering every little tactic the Active Duty staff had taught him during that Close Quarters combat Training.

He stopped short of the door, noticing there was no knob or handle to operate it. To the right of the door, there was a small panel with a red and green button. The red button glowed lightly, obviously signifying that the door was locked. Instinctually, Tyler balled up his fist, making the knuckles within give an intimidating crackle. He pressed the button, and with a satisfying beep, the door hissed open.

A body fell back through the doorway, causing Tyler to jump and shriek softly in terror. He managed to slowly get back up after falling on his ass. The body, the corpse, in front of him looked like it had just survived (or lack thereof) a medieval war. There were slashes and cuts and bite marks and lacerations all up and down. God help the poor soul who had to endure this kind of torture. Tyler was in awe, and slowly approached the corpse as he examined.

The man, who looked like he was _not _having a good day, was dressed in a military uniform. It was the standard woodland camouflage Battle Dress Uniform still employed by the Navy and the Air Force. The upper body of the man was far too torn up to read if he was a sailor or an airman, nonetheless he was still a member of America's fighting forces. Saying a quick prayer for the dead man, Tyler slowly and carefully tried to move past him. There was so much blood that was in a puddle where the corpse had leaned against the door. What scared Tyler so much was that it was not dried.

Tyler still had his eye on the dead man as he stepped out into the hall, his foot knocking into something, wet and fleshy. He looked in awe and terror as he had found another mutilated corpse. The difference in this one was that its camouflage Battle Dress Uniform was different. This one was an urbanized Navy blue and black color. These, if Tyler remembered correctly, were employed by Russian military soldiers. _What the fuck?_ He shuddered as he tried not to vomit from how much blood and gore was spread everywhere. Bodies littered the hallway as blood and guts was smeared across the halls, floor and ceiling. Bullet holes and empty cartridges were also randomly placed around the hallway.

It had seemed some kind of massacre had taken place here. Tyler had felt like he was in one of those movies that involved being trapped in a base after a viral outbreak of zombies had occurred. Tyler had the mindset, though, that zombies did not exist, and that it had to be some type of wild animal or something. _I've got to find Marie and…oh…_ Of course, he then remembered _what _he was married to. In any case, he did not feel safe at all being unarmed, especially after seeing this.

Tyler looked effortless on the Russian soldier for a weapon of some kind. The poor guy did not have any guns, knives, or anything. He was defenseless when…whatever… had gotten to him. He hopped back over to where the American lay and saw a 9mm Glock pistol was secured on his guard belt. Tyler bent over and pulled the pistol out of the dead man's snug holster and pulled the slide back, seeing there was a round chambered. He always was a fan of Glocks and considered them his favorite pistol. A further search of the corpse revealed he was in possession of a blue keycard that said Armory on it…Tyler smiled.

Locked, loaded, and feeling a hell of a lot safer with a pistol and an objective, Tyler moved back out into the hallway. He was kind of disheartened when he realized that he did not know which way the armory was…but a gut feeling, as well as some kind of sensation in the bite mark, he decided to go left. As he moved further away from the little "health" room, he realized how much of a bad idea it was to leave it. The lights seemed even dimmer out here in the hallway, and some of them even flickered, creating a strobe effect that freaked him out totally. Tyler brought the pistol to tactical ready, a stance where you held the weapon forty-five degrees downward with the barrel pointing down range. He was ready.

Feeling something move behind him however, Tyler spun around and brought the pistol up to ready position, his eye looking down the iron sights of the weapon. He thumbed the safety off and aimed all in one smooth, effortless motion. Seeing that nothing was there, he turned back around and continued back down the hallway. Again, though, he felt movement and spun back around. This time he saw sort of a silhouette of…something. It called at him with a deep, unnatural growl. Without even thinking, Tyler double tapped the trigger of the Glock, putting two rounds down range. He was rewarded with just a ringing noise in ears from the gunshots echoing. There was no satisfying sound of 9mm parabellum rounds tearing into flesh and whatever he had hit falling down to die.

Tyler breathed deeply and did not move the gun at all. He was unsure if he had killed whatever threat awaited him in the darkness. Again, though, he felt something move behind him. Cursing, he turned around, ready to defend himself. There was nothing, just a dark, quiet hall. It reminded him of the night Marie had revealed her true self to him. All he heard and felt was the beating of his hard and the deep inhales and exhales of his nervous breathing. He felt something move again, but it was too late. Whatever he shot, and pissed off apparently, had not given him the chance to turn around. A strong, clawed hand grabbed hold of his throat from behind and held him. Tyler felt heavy, hungry breathing and growling on the back of his neck. He thought he was going to die.

In a dark, ravenous, seductive voice, the creature that held him said, "I can feel the blood rushing through your veins." It sounded ridiculously familiar… and then it hit him.

Tyler struggled his best to turn his head and look. "Marie?"

In one fluid motion, the being that held him within an inch of his life spun Tyler around and faced him. Tyler looked into her beautiful red, eyes…._red_? He looked her up and down, and it was like his wedding night all over again. She was in her demonic form, but now dressed in a form fitting vinyl outfit with boots that stood on dagger heels.

"Hi lover," Marie had said even more seductively. She smiled brightly and looked so happy to see her husband alive and well.

Tyler stammered over his words. "Um, uh, Marie? What the hell?! Was that you trying to freaking growl at me?!" He exclaimed in a ruffled manner waving the Glock pistol about and positioning his body in an aggressive manner.

Marie merely placed her hand on her cocked-out hip and threw head back in laughter. "Yeah, it was. I was just playing around and having some fun, baby. You were the one who was overreacting. You can put an eye out playing with something like that." She gestured towards the Glock.

"Hey, I was just defending myself." Tyler pointed to his chest. He stopped though and started to look all sad and worried. Marie raised her brow in confusion and cocked her head. "I didn't hit you, did I, sweetheart?"

"Well, you came damn close. You have excellent aim, but I'm faster." She smiled and ran her claw against his cheek. "But it would take a lot more than just a couple of low caliber rounds to hurt me, love."

Tyler let out a deep breath. He was relieved. "I'm sorry, honey. I though that you were one of the creatures or whatever that killed these guys." Tyler pointed to the gore and anguished bodies around them.

"Well…." Marie started looking up and placing her finger on her cheek. "Wait! How do you know it was a creature or something?"

Tyler got wide eyed at the question. What did it matter? "I don't know. I mean, like when I wake up in this place and everyone is dead in a gruesome manner. I assume zombies or something vile and evil."

Marie laughed hysterically. "You are such a dork!"

"NO I'M NOT!"

"Ok, hun, whatever you tell yourself so you can sleep better at night."

Tyler balled his fist up and growled at his wife. "I'm just trying to maintain a state of tactical alertness."

Marie looked up and down her husband with her ruby-like orbs and giggled. "You call a hospital gown tactical?"

"You really need to shut up! At least I'm not dressed like a dominatrix!" Tyler growled back.

"Hey! Whoa! I'm just trying to make light of the situation and have a good time…by giving you a hard time." Marie said all smiles.

"Well, this isn't exactly the time for jokes," Tyler said as he turned around and began walking towards where he thought the armory was. "Whatever attacked these sentries may still be near. Just keep close."

"Um, baby. What if whatever attacked these things was, like, right next to you, and maybe perhaps married to you?" Marie asked her voice and stance trying to sound like an innocent, shy little girl.

Tyler stopped dead in his tracks and started to slowly turn towards his wife. There was a look of terror across his face. "WHAT?!"

"Well, they had captured us and hurt you. And you know how I feel about you getting hurt. No one's allowed to do it but me. And they tried to hold me down and it's their own fault for trying to overpower me when they are weak and everything. And this suit doesn't react well to bullets. And though I can take them, I don't want to walk around naked. I'm just not in that mood. And I was just taking out my anger of Hunter trying to be all badass with his Air Force powers and I was just upset and everything!" Marie explained. She pouted her lips and tried to give her husband big, doughy, red, puppy-dog eyes.

Tyler blinked. "What?! Hun, these were American soldiers. They don't deserve this."

"Well, they are working for Hunter so they are like the bad ones. You know what I mean? I am pretty sure he gets his people from military prisons," Marie explained, looking more upset now. "You're not mad at me are you?"

_So these guys are taken from Leavenworth? That would make sense. The government would turn a blinder eye to dead prisoners then they would to normal active duty personnel. _"No baby, I'm not. How do you know all of this?" Tyler asked.

Marie's sadness washed away and a sinister grin overcame her pretty face. "Well, when I first broke free, I decided to have fun and sneak up on a lot of them like the Predator, right? So, I hear a lot of them talking about their time in Military prison. And besides, I know a little about Hunter. He is the sort to just use worthless pawns in his scheme."

Tyler furrowed his brow. "Um, how do you know so much about this Hunter guy, Marie?"

Marie's eyes got really wide as she tried to search for an adequate answer. "Um, well he is very renowned in the demon community. He is probably the Saddam Hussein of the demonic realm."

"Dude, when we get out of this, we need to sit down and have a talk about all this!" Tyler said, not angrily, to Marie's surprise. He was actually excited. "There have been so many opinions over what the demonic realm is really like and what happened to them and… wait a minute! How did you have time to do all of this and learn everything?"

Marie laughed nervously. "Oh, well, when I first became a demon fully, I, um, was transported there; that whole me going to Germany thing was just a ruse. I went to the demonic realm. It's a long story, hun, and I think we should concentrate on getting the hell out of here."

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Tyler said nodding. "Well, I think we should go to the armory. That way we can get some better weapons. Well, I can at least. And I think I need some better clothes."

Marie giggled flirtatiously. "Aww, I like you wearing that gown. Hehehehe. It's all you're really wearing and your cute butt kind of shows."

"Yeah, well I'm glad you're amused. I'm the one freezing my so-called cute butt off!" Tyler said.

Marie just giggled more and began walking with her husband down the hall. "I am pretty sure that it's this way. I think I saw a sign that said Armory."

The hall was dark and decrepit and, for once, corpse-less. It almost gave of this feeling of dampness. The lights acted in a very strange manner. They illuminated the hall enough so you were able to see just about eight or ten feet in front of you and darkness the rest of the way. Tyler could sense a demonic aura around him and Marie, and he knew for sure it was not from his wife. One of his priorities after getting out this place was to figure out what this place was and what went on here.

Tyler held his Glock at tactical ready and moved slowly down the hall, scanning every little sector with his eyes. Marie walked beside him, and a little to the rear, in a manner that showed she truly did not care whatsoever. Why would she need to? She was a demon. Any threat that came to provoke them was sure to be torn to shreds by Marie. All Tyler could do was shoot them and hope the 9mm rounds were enough to take out whatever threatened them.

His thoughts trailed to this demonic Air Force Colonel, Hunter. There was some obvious connection between Hunter and his wife and he was hoping to get to the bottom of it somehow. The bigger problem was the realization that there were demons within the United States Military. It made sense though because it such a large population there were bound to be some demons in the military. They were probably just good demons that wanted to make an honest living and just live without prejudice, using their powers to blend in with the rest of society like Marie did. Then again, there were other demons like this Hunter character that seemed to have an agenda.

The slow, tactical walk down the hallway brought him past numerous office doors with office numbers engraved in black on them. Tyler scanned the doors carefully looking for the engraving that led him to a magical world of high powered firearms and gear. The breeze was starting to make him shiver. His muscles quivered and his teeth began to chatter as parts of his body began to feel a dull, cold numbness go through them.

Marie slid her arm around Tyler's and pulled herself to his side and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing deeply and smiling. Tyler felt the warmth start to return to his body as his heart began to race to catch up with the reality of his wife snuggling against him for warmth. The funny thing was that she could probably smell and feel every ounce of blood speed through his veins; it was slightly scary. Tyler just smiled and picked up the pace a little more when he saw an armor plated double door up ahead.

A blue lined, reinforced steel entrance with two doors awaited them on the right. To the right, like the door in the medical examination room, was a keycard reader that was lined in blue as well. The name on the keycard matched the name engraved on the door. They had made it to the armory. Tyler grinned at his wife so wide; she just shook her head and grinned. He swiped the card through the card reader and it gave him a satisfying beep and changed its red light to blinking green. The door was unlocked.

As the double doors hissed open, Tyler's mind began to slow down as he began to smile even wider. Ode to joy began to play in the back of his head as he looked into the white illuminated room filled with wonderful toys whose sole purpose was death and destruction. Tyler and Marie walked in slowly, the former in awe as to how much firepower was locked away in this room. Lucky for him, Marie's rant on the guards caused them to scatter to the armory and forget to lock the weapons' lockers back up. M16A2 Assault rifles, M79 Fragmentation Grenades, M4 Tactical Carbines, SPAZ12 Shotguns, M24 Sniper Rifles, 9mm Glocks, Berrettas, and 45. Kimber pistols, as well as enough ammunition to clear out a forest. There was kevlar and spare woodland camouflage uniforms in a small closet, as well as steel toe combat boots.

"Christmas came early!" Tyler said. He looked as his wife and grinned. "Honey, can I play, please?"

Marie giggled and nodded. She started to help her husband get dressed. Tyler suited up in camouflage trousers, stuffed into black jungle boots. He put on a white tee and black sweatshirt and then threw on the woodland blouse over that and buttoned it all up. Winking at his wife, who was smiling playfully at him, he walked over to the arms rack and threw on a jungle green pistol belt with holster. Tyler hooked a spare holster and positioned it at the small of his back. Grabbing another Glock, and several magazines of 9mm ammunition, he stuffed them into the guard belt. Tyler snatched up magazines of 5.56mm magazines and stuffed them into his ammo pouches and grabbed an M4 Tactical Carbine off the rack. He made sure to fit it with a flash light and a tactical laser scope and slung it over his shoulder.

Standing in front of his wife, decked out in camouflage and weaponry, he winked and smiled and said, "What do you think baby?"

Marie widened her eyes in awe. "Do you think we have time right now to play?"

Tyler laughed. "You're in the mood?"

"Seeing you in that kind of gets me going."

Tyler shook his head and started for the door, pulled his M4 from his shoulder and pulled the bolt back and released it so a round was chambered and ready to go. His grip tightened around the forward handgrip as he brought the rifle up to his chest and held it at the ready. Tyler motioned for Marie to follow him. He peeked around the corner, looking left and right. When seeing it was all clear, Tyler jumped from cover, took a knee and brought the M4 up to his shoulder and scanned the sector. Marie just giggled as she walked out all casually.

"Who are you going to shoot, Rambo?" Marie asked. "There was nothing out here but the mess that I left."

Tyler got up. "I still have to maintain a state of tactical alertness."

"Ok, Navy boy, so what do we do now?"

Tyler searched for an answer. He honestly did not have one. What he had always done in the past, in video games at least, was to get some firepower and just blast his way out of everything. He didn't think that would be the case this time. "Well, I suppose we try to find a way out of here."

Marie sighed. "And how do you suppose we…" she started but was cut off by klaxons and flashing lights. The normal dim, white lights were replaced with flashing, red lights. Both Marie and Tyler looked around in confusion as the alarm klaxons sounded off.

"This can't be good," Tyler said. He looked at his wife more seriously. "Stay close to me."

Tyler brought the rifle up to tactical ready and aimed it down the hallway as he walked slowly, ready to kill anything that threatened him or his beautiful wife. She walked normally, but had a little more caution in her step. Adrenaline began to fuel Tyler's fire, as his heart thumped against his chest harder and faster and his head throbbed with anxiety. He was in attack mode.

There was a _click-klack _noise behind them that caused them to stop dead in their tracks and Tyler to drop to one knee after spinning around and aiming down range. He thumbed the safety off and brought it to fully automatic. In a world where demons and creatures of the night preyed upon humans, Tyler wanted to be ready to terminate with extreme prejudice. Marie flexed her claws and channeled her demonic powers to flow through her body as energy radiated from her and she took a defensive stance.

Coming into the red light was a true monstrosity. It was a bipedal creature with brown, leathery skin. It red, glowing eyes looked more deadly than Maries were, but not as magnificent. Yellow, blade-like talons hung at his sides and globs of thick, white drool fell from a mouth full of needle-like teeth. It growled deeply with a sense of hunger, and in a guttural tone had said, "Humans…muST…DIE!!"

And with that, the demon pounced, longing to strike at the only human in the hall. Marie was about strike in defense when…

_BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!_

…Tyler squeezed the trigger of his carbine and let a spray of 5.56mm bullets down range and traced a fine line up the demons torso. The demon lurched back and twitched as dark blood oozed from its leather body. It gurgled its last breaths as it reached up at the ceiling, and then died. Tyler opened his one closed eye and looked at the corpse he just created. The echo of the gunfire subsided from his eardrums as the klaxons became more coherent in his mind. He stood again and examined his prey with a look of extreme seriousness.

"It's time to leave, Marie," he said without even looking at his wife.

His first kill was not even human. That scared Tyler somehow because he just had the feeling that it would not be last time he would have to kill in this endeavor. He had an extremely bad feeling about this whole situation. And the fact that a demon just tried to rip his throat out did not help matters much. Marie stared deeply at her husband and reached out to offer comfort when…

…more growling called out from the darkness and at least five more pairs of glowing red eyes and yellow needle-like teeth became visible from down the hallway. Cursing, Tyler began to back peddle and held the trigger down on his M4 Carbine as he shouted for Marie to run. He depleted the magazine, unsure if he made any rounds hit. Tyler turned and sprinted, trying to catch up with Marie. Ejecting the magazine and letting it clatter to the floor and lag behind, he popped in a fresh one and hit the feed rod so another round could chamber.

The growling became more intense, and their focus seemed to be only on Tyler. _What the hell did I ever do to these guys? Sure, being ugly is something to be mad about but they should eat their mother, not me!_ Tyler spun into another backpedal and began to let off 3-round bursts into the demons. Some rounds hit and some just ended up striking into the wall, making concrete and debris fall and sparks to fly from ricochet, all creating an almost beautiful glow of gold, red, and black.

Some demons slowed down and some sped up from Tyler's attempt to exterminate them. Not dropping a single demon, he repeated spinning into a sprint and reloading his weapon again. _Two magazines down and only one "ugly" dead. Not good!_

And as if reading his mind, Marie stopped instantly and jumped into a back flip almost in the blink of an eye. She landed began the squad of demons that were gaining on Tyler. They did not even take a second to realize the threat behind them as Marie clawed her way through the lot of them, using her razor-like demon claws to horizontally slash the imps in half. Black ooze sprayed through out the halls and floor as the demons fell dead and shrieked in pain and horror. Their dark blood dripped from Marie's claws and hands she growled lightly.

Tyler ran up to his wife, making sure she was ok and kicking the demonic corpses in the process. "Are you ok, babe?" He asked. Not giving an immediate response, Marie only put her paw up and breathed deeply. Apparently, she needed to catch her breath and not go into another bloodlust, obviously what happened previous with the human and demon guards.

Marie flicked her hand, trying to get the demon blood and guts off of her claw. She looked at her husband more seriously and said, "Did you notice how they're all going for you?"

Tyler nodded, looking around. He was still not sure if where they were standing was secure. If these guys could just sneak up on them and pop up, then their friends could surely do it again. "Yeah, I know this totally does not seem fair. I'm only human."

"I think you're doing all right with that hand cannon, darling," she said, smiling. Her same, old sarcastic self started to come back as he saw the glow in her spirit. Tyler smiled at that. Amongst the killing and horrors that lurked still in this facility, Tyler still was glad his baby was all right and doing well. He on the other hand might not be so hot later.

And, as if on cue to break up this nice little moment, moans and groans came from the darkness in the direction in which they were running from the demon imps. Tyler turned in the direction of the moans and brought up his rifle, this time thumbing the selector switch to single shot fire. He decided he could do more damage if he got a clean head shot on whatever was trying to come for them.

From the darkness came bodies with their arms stretched out in front of them, like they were craving something they hungered for. Tyler noticed the bullet holes and slash marks in their bodies as they lazily moped forward towards him and his wife. _No fucking way…_

"Zombies? You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Tyler said, more pissed off now, as if the Gods were testing him in some way.

"Ok. Now, this I wasn't expecting." Marie said as she readied herself.

"Well, I wasn't either bit it's an easy fix...I think." Tyler popped off one round at the closest zombie. The round came in contact perfectly between its dead, blank eyes. The back of its head blew completely outwards and spread dark fluid to the space behind it, the force of the bullet making the zombie fall back. Tyler squeezed off a couple more rounds with complete efficacy. One shot one kill, and the zombies went down like nothing. When they started to become completely surrounded by zombies on both sides, Tyler became more worried. "This isn't going to work, babe."

"Let me try," his wife said as she lunged toward the group of dead cannibals and began to hack and slash and kick her way though them. Some attempts were futile as, though limbless, they still crawled towards them hungrily. "You're right, Ty, it's not."

Just when Tyler was about to suggest that they try to blast their way past the lot of them, an elevator door hissed open on one of the doors. Tyler almost laughed, but thought differently as he motioned for Marie to get into it. He kept getting rounds off and, to his surprise, dropped at least eight more zombies with headshots. They clawed and moaned after them both, but Marie punched the only button on the panel. The doors closed and the little lift car began to move.

"What are the fucking odds," Tyler said as he laughed and switched out magazines.

"I guess somebody likes us," Marie said. "Though, it could be one of Hunter's tricks."

"Whatever it is, we are no longer down there. I almost accepted the inevitable down there, hun."

"What, that your wife may be a better skilled killing machine than you?" she asked smiling.

"THIS IS NO TIME TO GET COCKY!" he yelled.

Marie threw her head back and laughed, again making light of the situation. Regardless of Tyler's current state of being pissed off, Marie still decided to test his patience by laughing at the fact that he was only a mortal and so far they have been fighting demons. Tyler definitely felt like he was placed in the setting of a bad Japanese cartoon.

"I'm telling you, hun, we have to be more cautious. Who the hell knows what we are going to find when the doors open up?" Tyler stated, motioning to the elevator doors.

As if reading Tyler's mind, the elevator stopped abruptly, almost throwing him and Marie off of their feet. They both had to brace themselves on the walls to make sure they did not fall over. Tyler and Marie exchanged looks of confusion. It seemed as if this whole situation was playing off of the superstitions in their heads. They were not prepared, however, for what awaited them on the other side of the elevator doors.

The elevator doors dinged and slid open to reveal a large, white room with computer mainframes lined up on the walls. Tyler noticed two figures rummaging through computer files and military documents, he could not tell at this range. It must have been at least twenty or so meters away, he did even get a good look at the occupants of the room. Without taking any chances, Tyler brought the weapon up to tactical carry and was ready to bring the sights up to his eyes and put rounds down range.

As soon as Tyler placed a boot outside the elevator car, the figures perked up and stepped into the light. Tyler widened his eyes as he saw humanoid figures, but there was a cougar's head on one and a panther's on another. Their piercing gaze from their feline gaze's was as sharp as the fangs they bore. Both feline beings growled and snarled at the couple at the elevator.

Marie immediately stepped out next to her husband and flexed her claws and stood at a readied battle stance. "Demons!" she hissed, ready to pounce on them.

Tyler noticed that the clothes the two cat demons wore were military uniforms. The green and black camouflage used by the North Korean Army was briefed to most line Naval Officers prior to commissioning being that was a hot spot in the world and Tyler could well have ended up there. A demon in a N. Korean uniform aside, Tyler's fears came true when the "panther" started to unsling the tactical AK-74u it had on its shoulder. The "cougar", at the same time, started to pull a Korean 9mm pistol from its hip holster.

"Get back in the elevator!" Tyler yelled as he brought the M4A1 up to his shoulder and clicked on the full automatic setting.

The two demons yelled something in Korean as they started to shoot off rounds and back pedaled to try and find cover. The large room echoed with _pops_ and _tat-tat-tat _from the pistol and assault rifles. Tyler dropped to one knee as he tapped bursts from his rifle while the Korean demons yelled and kept constant fire. 7.62mm and 9mm ricocheted off the walls surrounding the elevator. The demons weren't very good shots, as they were blindly firing from their hips and hoping to hit Tyler.

Hot, gleaming brass ejected from the receiver of Tyler's M4A1 assault rifle and jangled as they struck the polished, tiled floor and the smell of sulfur from the gunpowder filled his nostrils. The "cougar" demon tried taking cover behind a computer terminal, which wasn't that well defended, for the 5.56mm round from the assault penetrated the terminal and pierced right into the "cougar's" skull. The demon instantly died as it hit the floor, into a pool of its own dark blood. The "panther" demon didn't take kindly to its "brother" dying. It started putting rounds closer to Tyler.

Marie noticed the improving accuracy of the "panther" demon and grabbed her husband by the shoulder and, with one hand, pulled Tyler into the elevator with her and damn near destroyed the panel on the elevator when she punched in to move on to the next floor. Tyler hissed at the pain in his shoulder. _Goddamn those claws of yours!_ He thought as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Who's the cocky one now, stupid?!" Marie glared at her husband, who was sitting on the floor.

Tyler chuckled and looked up at his wife. "I'm allowed to be."

"Like hell you are!" She helped Tyler up to his feet and firmly grasped his forearm lovingly. Though she seemed pissed as hell, Tyler knew that she didn't want anything happening to her baby.

"I'm fine, hun, but this whole damn situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"What? You mean those cat demons?" Marie asked all casually. "Those guys are somewhat common. Nothing really sinister going on there…except for them trying to kill us, but, you know, life goes on."

Tyler laughed on the inside, but the situation called for him to start getting more serious. "No, it's not that. Did you see the uniforms they had and what they were speaking?" Marie looked confused. "I didn't think so. They were North Koreans, baby. Those were NK Army Uniforms and weapons. What they are doing here? I'm not so sure."

Marie frowned. "Koreans? Well, that can't be good if this is an American base."

"It's not. We need to find the base commander or at least one of the officers." Tyler said shaking his head. "Hell, I'll take that Hunter right about now just for some answers."

The elevator stopped rather abruptly, again almost making its inhabitants falling over. Tyler shook his head in anger. You'd think that they would be at least kind enough to build a nice, working elevator when they threw demonic imps and zombies at you, not to mention the demonic Korean Special Forces, but no! The elevator _can't_ work, and there can't be _normal_ bad guys!

And just when Tyler thought it couldn't get any worse… The elevator doors once again dinged and slid open. As Tyler was about to reload his assault rifle with the last full magazine of 5.56mm ammunition he couldn't see what awaited on other side of the elevator car. In his peripheral, Tyler could see Marie tense up and start to shake. He looked up and saw how scared she became and the glazed over look in her eyes. Tyler gazed out into the narrow hallway outside the elevator and saw Hunter standing in his dress blue uniform, angrily and hungrily staring at Marie.

Time seemed to slow in his head again. Without thinking whatsoever, Tyler pushed his wife back against the wall of the elevator and stepped out, bringing the M4A1 up to his shoulder, in the same manner he had done against the Korean demons downstairs. Marie still watched emotionless as her husband growled and lashed out with an instinctual rage to protect her. As Tyler brought his sights up, Hunter began to raise his hand, whose claws seemed to have been extended.

The rifle went off after Tyler squeezed the trigger. Two rounds, the final rounds, exited the barrel of the tactical weapon in a blaze from the flash of the muzzle. Hot and spinning like fans on a humid, summer day, the bullets sped towards the face of the man… the demon that stood in front of Tyler. His feelings of adrenaline raced throughout his veins and shot like fuel injectors into all parts of his body. The dread Tyler experienced earlier with the zombies and demons began to ebb as he saw that the main problem was about to end. Hunter was going to die. A smile tugged at Tyler's lips, but…

_PING!_

It was funny how fast a smile could turn into a jaw dropping look of awe. The bullets were stopped in mid-air. Hunter's eyes had hints of crimson in them, which had begun to fade. Apparently, this Air Force demon had created a shield or some sort of barrier to protect him from the bullets. The glow in his eyes faded and Hunter lowered his clawed hand, and as he did this the two bullets that were in suspended animation fell to floor with the satisfying sound of clacking against the tiled floor. Tyler followed their movement all the way to the ground up until they ceased movement.

Tyler shot his look up to Hunter who stood there emotionless. The elderly demon waved his other clawed hand towards Tyler and behind the Navy officer the elevator doors closed. Tyler jumped back trying to stop the elevator from closing but he wasn't fast enough. He clawed and growled as he pounded against the elevator doors. They would not budge and Marie would not come out.

"If you want to kill me, whelp, you really to start trying harder," Hunter said, calmly yet mockingly.

Tyler grinned and hung his head low. He muttered to himself, "I'm just getting started you son of a bitch…"

Placing his hand on the grip of a Glock and spinning around and dropping to one knee, Tyler pulled his pistol out and aimed right at the place where Hunter would have his heart, but being a demon he had none. Letting out a breath, Tyler repeatedly tapped the trigger of the porcelain gun. _BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!_ Nine-millimeter rounds sprayed out of the gun and entered into the mid-torso. Hunter stood his ground as the bullets pounded into him and he took it like the demon he was. He stood there, not even phased, emotionless as Tyler fired away.

Eighteen rounds later, Tyler kept trying to tap the trigger. He was rewarded with a discontented click. The slide was locked back and the chamber was empty. Hunter still stood emotionless, the bullets penetrated his uniform, but no blood seeped through the cloth. Hunter seemed to exhale and the 9mm rounds spilled out of his wounds and clattered to the floor much like the M4A1 rounds. Tyler's hands began to shake and the moving parts in the gun began to make noise as his breathing became erratic and the feeling of dread just became amplified.

"Well, that's a start, boy," Hunter remarked, tilting his head a little.

Tyler's fear turned into rage. Letting out a scream of anger and throwing the Glock to the floor, he jumped to his feet and charged at Hunter. Growled breaths flowed in and out of Tyler's flared nostrils as he pumped his legs and balled his fists as he dashed toward his assailant. The only thing on his mind was ripping Hunter's head from that uniform and tossing it to the side. The only thing he wanted to do was kill this abomination and go back to Arizona with his wife. All he had to do was just beat him to death…

All he had to do… Tyler then realized what he was doing but it was too late. He was a young human trying to attack a demon with a helluva lot more combat experience than Tyler could ever try to hope for. Hunter struck out with his claw and grasped Tyler by the throat, lifting him into the air. Tyler cursed and struggled as he tried to pry himself free from the demon's grip. Fruitlessly, he pounded and wriggled and scratched as Hunter, who remained emotionless still, merely looking into Tyler's eyes as if studying a helpless animal in a sick experiment.

"Tyler, I want you to start paying attention. If you don't start cooperating I am going to kill you. And then I am going to kill your wife," Hunter said. The words "your wife" struck Tyler the hardest. He stopped struggling let his arms dangle. The mere thought of even losing made Marie sick to his stomach and caused him to lose his inspiration to fight or even live. Once Tyler stopped fighting, he loosened his grip and let his prey drop to the floor.

He grunted and stared up at Hunter with the hatred of a thousand peoples. "You son of a bitch!" Tyler cursed softly.

Hunter mockingly scoffed. "I am the least of your concerns, _Ensign_." The emphasis on Tyler's rank made him flinch. Even though he wanted to kill him and rip him to figurative shreds, he was still a superior to Tyler.

Tyler slowed his breathing and tried to calm down. His hands began to shake again and the adrenaline subsided a little, leaving him cold and weary. "Yes, sir," was all he could say.

The elderly demon nodded his head and gave another wave with his hand. Marie emerged, after finally being able to pull herself together, and gave Hunter a look that said "I am going to rip you a new one." She growled and got ready to pounce.

Hunter chuckled, finally showing some sign of emotion. "Both of you get your bearings. Come with me. I have something I wish to show you."

He began to turn and start in the other direction, when Marie spoke up. "We are not going anywhere with you, damn it!"

Hunter spun instantly with lightning speed and the red glow returned to his eyes. A dark aura now came from his presence. "You will hold your tongue, wench!" he snapped. Marie flinched as if she were just slapped in the face. "If you will not give me respect as a man, at least show me some respect and gratitude being my daughter!"

Tyler perked up. _What the fuck?_ "Did you say…_daughter_?"

Looking from Marie to Tyler, and back and forth again, Hunter showed his first signs of emotion and laughed as if he saw or something amusing. He chuckled and gazed at Marie, his laugh growing more eerie by the second. Slowly standing from his position on the floor, Tyler frowned and got worried at what the demon found so funny.

"You never told him did you?" Hunter asked between chuckles.

"Tell me what?" Tyler said looking at Marie with a look of growing concern on his face.

Marie sheepishly looked down, realizing her husband's concern. She flinched when Tyler repeated his question. Hunter's chuckle grew then almost immediately subsided. "You didn't, did you? Well you waited this long to tell him about your true self so why not tell him where you came from?"

"Honey, I was afraid that…" She trailed off, trying to look pathetic. Marie was only rewarded by silence from her husband. Tyler looked uneasy again and decided he would reclaim his spot back on the floor.

"So I married into a family of demons…?" Tyler asked himself aloud.

"Baby, you have to understand that I only wanted to protect you." Marie tried to explain.

"I can take care of myself, Marie!" Tyler snapped. Marie drew back, feeling hurt.

Hunter laughed more softly this time. Looking all smug, he said, "I guess you won't be talking to me for another fifteen years now, my child?"

"You son of a…" Marie started.

"Being as we are running out of time, I do need both of you to cooperate so we can start everything," Hunter countered quickly to cut his daughter off. He looked down on Tyler and returned to his normal, emotionless state. "Ensign Cecil, I have a mission for you that may prove to be in the best interests of National Security."

Tyler's irritation ebbed and he perked up once again, going into military mode. He pulled himself up off of the floor, refusing help from his wife, who looked hurt once again. "Yes, sir. What's the situation?"

"Well, first I think it's time for you two to meet… _Orion_." Hunter said with some sparkle in his eyes, as he motioned for them to follow.

Curious about the new terms the Colonel used, Tyler briskly started to follow his superior officer and father-in-law apparently. Marie tried putting her arm through her husbands, who stiffened up at the touch. Marie almost whimpered at Tyler's distant attitude now.

"Aw, baby, _was ist_?" She asked softly so Hunter would not hear. Her face had the beginnings of a frown.

Tyler shot her a look and said, "You know what's wrong. Anymore secrets you want to share with me?'

"I mean seriously, how would you have reacted if I told about him?" Marie asked.

"How did I react to our wedding night?"

Marie nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I should have told you, Ty. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me, baby?"

Tyler gave her a playful grin and looked into those beautiful red orbs and nodded. "Of course, love. Just please be more upfront with me from now on, ok?"

"Ok, baby. I promise." She matched her husband's grin with a sexy version of her own. She even added a wink to complete the effect. She was pleased with her husband's soft chuckle and rested her head on his shoulder as they followed Hunter deeper into the facility. "Where are we going?" Marie spoke up so Hunter could hear her.

Hunter turned his head to the side and answered, "We are going to meet Orion.

"Begging the Colonel's pardon," Tyler started, keeping with his military bearing, "but what is Orion, sir?"

Hunter gave a scoff. "Not what. Who, Ensign?"

"Sir?"

"Orion is a person, well sort of." Hunter started. "It's all part of an operation needed to be performed in order to ensure the survival of the Human race."

Tyler cocked an eyebrow and looked at Marie, who exchanged glances with him. "The human race? I'm not sure I understand."

With that comment, Hunter stopped in his tracks. "Well, then I guess I should explain the situation to you first, and then we can meet with Orion."

The short trip to the conference room where Colonel Hunter took them was more exhausting than the whole time here at this base. Tyler hit his wall as the adrenaline that fueled his whole expedition through the demons and zombies left his veins. His bones ached, his muscles ached, it was a miracle Tyler was able to sit up straight and keep awake. A low, almost painful growl rumbled in the bottom of his stomach. Tyler's hunger would be ebbed soon as Hunter had an adjutant airman fetch him and his wife some food.

Hunter had really turned around. It was only an hour ago that Tyler was ready to blow his brains out. That was sometimes normal behavior towards your father-in-law, but Tyler wanted to kill him without that knowledge. Now, though, things had changed. Tyler had some sneaking feeling that the Colonel needed to stay alive because he was part of something in the bigger scheme of things. He had that feeling about himself and Marie as well. Tyler wasn't really one to believe in ESP and things like that but after his wedding night he wanted to prepare his mind for anything.

Two Air Force security guards stood in full tactical gear and M16A2 Service Rifles hung in their burly arms. Obviously, some parts of the base were still in lockdown mode and security was to remain extremely tight. Tyler retired his gear to some Russian private who took his weapons and equipment and brought them outside of the room.

Marie, who was now back to her human form, sat next to her husband in a tiresome manner. She leaned her head on his shoulder and snuggled up against his arm. The leather outfit she wore earlier had disappeared since returning to human form and the base personnel had loaned her a set of camouflage trousers and blouse. Marie, who was as exhausted and hungry as Tyler, was on the border of drifting into sleep.

Tyler, who looked as if he were to doze off as well, kept trying to picture in his mind what was going on. He had so many questions and wanted the answers to them badly. The excitement of finally getting the truth about this situation was the only thing from keeping him to completely collapse; that, and the occasional updates on the status of the Korean invaders and the creatures on the bottom level. It wasn't exactly what he joined the Navy for, but this thrilling feeling was awesome.

He turned his head and kissed his wife softly on her forehead. Smiling at how peaceful and beautiful Marie looked, Tyler gazed up at the doors that opened where the guards stood. The guards stiffened and snapped their rifles down to order arms. In walked in an Air Force Captain who stood tall upon entering and sounded off softly, "Attention on Deck!"

Tyler snapped up, completely oblivious to the fact that his wife was holding on and Marie took a face plant onto the mahogany conference table. She awoke and glared vengefully at her husband who didn't even pay any heed to her as the detail whose Attention was called for walked in.

Hunter, who was now covered in an olive drab flight suit (thanks to the efforts of Tyler and his 9mm Glock, that poor dress blue uniform), strolled into the conference room. Following his movements, a middle-aged Navy Lieutenant Commander in service khakis walked in and took a seat next to Hunter. Tyler looked at him real hard and analytically, trying to determine if he was of the same blood as Hunter was. The Lt. Commander looked very inconspicuous: brown hair that was closely cropper, brown eyes and medium build and height. Tyler had to just assume he was human.

Marie sat up on her chair and gave a groan of displeasure as she turned her head away from her husband and stared off into space. She obviously hated the whole military atmosphere and being denied her husband's shoulder to nap on didn't improve her views toward it. The fact that her father is apparently this all powerful demon and figure within the US Air Force didn't help matters with her either.

As Hunter gave the go ahead for everyone to take their seats, the adjutant came in with the food requested by Tyler and Marie. He dropped a mug of hot, black coffee in front of Tyler as well as an egg sandwich. Tyler's eyes widened and grabbed the sandwich and damn near inhaled the thing. He was done with his sandwich before Marie even got her food. The adjutant placed a plate of crackers with Brie down on the table in front of Marie, who was practically drooling over the food. She gobbled down a few and took some gulps from the tall glass of rice milk she got.

Looking satisfied with their hunger issue, Hunter nodded and thanked the adjutant for his time. The Colonel cleared his throat and stood, pressing a button on a small console at his seat. The wall panel directly behind him and the Navy Commander slid apart to reveal a screen with the Department of Defense logo spinning on it.

"Well, Tyler? Marie? It's time we get down to business and explain the current situation you two are faced with. First though, I would to introduce Lieutenant Commander Samuel Quill." Hunter gestured to the man next to him who nodded and gave a warm, friendly smile. "He is with the Navy's Chaplain Corps."

Tyler nodded back and gave him a complimentary "sir" as he noticed the small cross on Commander Quill's left collar. Having a priest in this type of setting seemed appropriate since he was dealing with demons and the undead. _This brief should prove to be interesting_, Tyler thought.

"Commander, this is Ensign Tyler Cecil and my daughter, Marie." Hunter gave both Marie and Tyler a serious look. The deviousness was still there, but the couple could sense the fatherly attitude Hunter now had towards them.

Taking a gulp from his Air Force coffee mug, Tyler cleared his throat. "Colonel, before we start on this I would like to know about you and my wife." Hunter gave him a glaring look. The father figure was now gone. "I just want the truth, sir."

Hunter nodded. "Colonel Jackson was Marie's stepfather. Her mother and I felt it would be best if she group up with both human parents being as I was a full-fledged demon and was grounded with this assignment here. It would have stayed like that had our… _situation_ not become escalated."

Out of the corner of Tyler could see Marie start to tense up. "And that gives you the grounds to kidnap Tyler and me?" She said rather harshly.

Sighing, Hunter sat down. "Marie, you have got to understand that I am not doing this out of pride for my bloodline. I had my staff kidnap you so we can preserve the Human race. You were not willing to cooperate therefore I had to take drastic measures."

"YOU NEVER EVEN ASKED!!" Marie shouted across the table. Even the rifle-wielding guards flinched from that.

"Sir, you could have ordered us to do it." Tyler butted in, earning a look of death from his wife.

Hunter nodded. "You? Yes. Marie? No."

Tyler smiled at that comment. The colonel was right. Marie was so free spirited that nothing in the universe could control her whatsoever. That high spirit she had was one of the reasons that he fell in love with her.

"In any case, this was the only possible action that could be taken. I imagine I could have killed you, Tyler, if I had wanted to. The Department of Defense, however, said that you should be taken alive for this process." Hunter explained.

"Why don't you tell Tyler about the rest, Hunter?" Marie said, looking all vindictive.

"You could give me a little bit of respect and at least call me father."

Marie smiled mockingly. "Don't want to, can't make me?"

Hunter balled his hands into fists, making his knuckles crackle under the pressure. "When she became of age for her demon genetics to take over, I tried repossessing her. Her mother fought tooth and nail against that. Her blood is very valuable for experimental purposes and we could not pass up the opportunity. However, further research from the DOD led to discovering that it could actually be her offspring that was important."

"That's when the sick bastard tried to marry me off to some muscle head officer of his that was a complete and utter douche bag!" Marie exclaimed to Tyler.

"The last straw was her marrying you. I needed both you and her for your children that you will have. It is for the upmost importance of national security and the fate of the world." Hunter said.

"Ok. I'm still not sure how she and I are important to you, Colonel." Tyler said.

"That's where Orion comes into play. But first, Commander?" Hunter gestured towards Quill.

Clearing his throat and straightening his gig line, Commander Quill stood and took Colonel Hunter's place in front of the screen. "Ensign Cecil, I specialize in religious studies and more specifically the darker side of religion."

"Let me guess. Demons?" Marie asked, being her usual smart ass self.

"Precisely," Quill answered, not paying attention to Marie's joke. "More importantly, though, we have been studying this one particular demonic prophecy for several years. Our actual research started at the height of World War Two, when we believed Hitler to have ties to demonic figures. Fortunately, we were wrong about the Nazi party's involvement with the prophecy. Are you familiar, Ensign, with the Coming of Jeraku?"

Marie and Tyler looked at each other, exchanging blank looks then returning to meet Commander Quill's gaze. Tyler furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"I thought not. It is a relatively ancient prophecy from the demon realm that was kept under wraps for centuries by both human and supernatural leaders. Some even believed that the demons charged with guarding the secrets of this prophecy were in the service of both God _and _Satan." Quill explained.

Marie cocked her eyebrow. "What? God _and_ Satan?"

"That could almost make sense, regardless of how ridiculous it sounds. Satan was in the service of God until he grew tired of serving in heaven and created hell where he could rule himself and the souls of the damned. That pretty basic stuff, but I have never heard of actual beings working for both parties in unison." Tyler said.

Quill nodded. "That being the specific reason we didn't pay attention to it until the Holocaust. It was completely absurd and blasphemous to even consider the Creator and Devil working together for a common interest. In 1943, the Army Chaplain Corps completely deciphered the prophecy and distributed to President Roosevelt and the theatre commanders of both US and British militaries. In 1944, when we discovered the Jewish concentration camps and death camps we feared the worst."

"Feared what? Just what exactly is this prophecy, sir?" Tyler asked, getting rather irritated.

"Jeraku was an experiment, conducted by both God and Satan themselves. According to the scrolls of this prophecy, in the early stages of life and after the creation of Hell, both Creators became weary of the spiritual war they waged on each other. With the triad of angels, demons and mortals, God and Satan wanted to find a way to end the war by creating a bridge between the three peoples."

Tyler's jaw dropped and Marie gave a look of confusion. "What? You can't be serious?" Marie said.

Commander Quill nodded, but Tyler shook his head no. "Are you kidding? I mean, we're talking about the devil and the Creator of life as we know it collaborating to end a war between them that some say still exists."

"This is why it is such a sketchy prophecy. It is so unbelievable that we almost missed it. Anyways, back to Jeraku. He was the being that was supposed to be created in order to put a stop to the war between the angels and followers of God, and the demons and Satanists. God and Satan both agreed that this being should have qualities of all three races and have mindsets of both Good and Evil to create the perfect balance that will bring order to chaos and chaos to order." Quill explained, using his hands to talk with him. "By doing so, the balance will cancel out all positive and negative energy within the world and leave it neutral. What they didn't plan on was Jeraku turning on both creators and form an agenda of his own. Upon his creation, his mere essence paved the way for the balance between good and evil. That is why we do not have everyone killing each other senseless in total, utter anarchy. Then again it is also the reason we do not have world peace as it is. The world does have that neutral, cancelling balance."

Quill took a pause to breath and grabbed a sip of water from the glass on the table, so Tyler decided to ask a question. "Why couldn't God just create something or do something to get rid of the bad energy and just replace with the good energy so we do have that total peace?"

"One: you would be out of a job." Marie piped in. "And two: I told you that it only looks good on paper." Tyler smiled at his wife.

Quill cleared his throat to regain attention. "That is actually part of it. Early religious scholars could not find a way to create total peace and harmony. They figured that was what heaven was designed for. And in any case, even had God and the angels figured out a way to create peace and virtually 'heaven on earth', there was a failsafe in place by Satan when he first created Hell. The dark magicians and alchemists who were instrumental in placing the dark spells that made Hell as powerful as it is put a seal on the world. This seal countered any positive energy that built up in this plane of existence by converting to negative energy and storing it until it could be released onto the mortal world like an atomic bomb."

"What do you mean?" Marie asked.

"Basically were we to have a thousand years of peace, or however long, we would have at least that much of terror and oppression by the dark forces. And we saw this happen with the fall of Greece and Rome, then the dark ages and then the renaissance. So, religious leaders, especially those stationed within the Vatican did all they could to keep that balance. Many wars in history have actually been predetermined by the Vatican to counter the positive energy when it became too great."

"That's not right." Tyler said.

Quill shrugged. "They figured one small war was worth it if it could avert a century or more of oppression and evil reign."

Tyler shook his head, disagreeing with the statement. "Tell that to the families of fallen soldiers and sailors. Anyways, so where does Jeraku fall into all of this?"

"Upon his creation, he turned and gathered some followers of his own. In the midst of the Holy War between heaven and hell, Jeraku staged his own guerilla war on humanity, the angels, and the demons. The demon population suffered greatly from this crossfire war and in fact this is how the Demon realm was created. God set aside a separate plane of existence for those demons to repopulate without outside influences since some demons became good and some stayed evil. Anyways, Jeraku turned out to be more powerful then God or Satan had anticipated him to become. Jeraku almost gained control of the mortal world and would have used it as a beachhead to stage attacks on Heaven and Hell. Demons, angels, and mortals succumbed to Jeraku's might and fought against both of their masters in service to the one dark lord they thought to be the true ruler of the universe and life as we know it. Had Jeraku gained control of the Earth to use against both afterworlds, it surely would have been torn apart and we would not be sitting here talking right now. This guerilla war lasted for nearly a decade until God and Satan found a way to collaborate once again and banish Jeraku to a separate realm for eternity. After his banishment, both God and Satan agreed to never collaborate again for it could have cost them the mortal realm of existence. They charged the mortals with maintaining the balance. They both figured that it would be better to have the mortal realm intact for Heaven and Hell rather than risk it be destroyed again."

"See, if they taught us this kind of stuff in catholic school I would have loved it so much better. I probably would not have gotten kicked out then." Tyler said. This earned him a chuckle from Marie. "Ok. So what exactly is the prophecy calling for?"

Quill took another sip of water before engaging again. "The prophecy is more for the people who worship the dark. Frankly, I don't think it should ever have been written because they are basically instructions telling you how to bring back Jeraku. His followers created the scrolls after his banishment and they have changed hands so many times, it's not even funny. But the prophecy says that if the right amount of blood is shed at the exact spot where Jeraku fell and was banished, he will return and continue his campaign against God and Satan."

"Right amount of blood? So, sacrifices then?" Tyler suggested.

"Exactly, Ensign. Unfortunately, there are were no records at the time suggesting where Jeraku fell in his final moments on Earth. More scrolls pertaining to the Jeraku prophecy were recovered and deciphered as to where he fell. Unfortunately, those sacrifices have come and gone."

"What?" Marie asked. "What do you mean? The world's not ending so how do you know?"

Quill punched some commands into the console that caused the screen behind him to blink to a picture of the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City. "We originally believed the Jewish holocaust was it and Jeraku had taken on the form of Hitler to start his campaign. We were wrong. Unfortunately, this sacrifice happened rather recently in history." He took a long look at the image of the twin towers, probably before they were struck by the aircraft on that dreadful September day.

"You're not seriously suggesting that the 9/11 attacks were the sacrifice this prophecy is entailing are you?" Tyler asked, his mood growing more serious with each new bit of information he hears.

"The Scrolls recovered and deciphered suggested that Jeraku fell somewhere on the American east coast. At first, we thought it was just a terrorist attack from the Middle East. We didn't suspect it until the large amounts of innocents dead was flagged in the Chaplain Corps' database and we analyzed the whole attacks on the twin towers." Quill explained.

Colonel Hunter stood and brought up and image of one of the towers smoldering and its smoke trailing up into the atmosphere. "You've heard of the myths that the smoke that formed from the tower's destruction was formed into an image of the devil and it was an ill-omen for humanity?" Tyler nodded. "Well, that myth is wrong. It's not the devil. It's Jeraku." Hunter punched more commands into the console and a thermal imaging scan overlapped the image and showed the smoke in bright colors, yet everything else was dark. "What you are seeing is a scan of energy we spoke about. It is extremely concentrated in the smoke and ruins of the World Trade Center."

"Is that negative energy?" Marie asked.

Hunter paused before answering, like he was disturbed about the whole situation. "No, it's not. That is how we know it is not the devil. Jeraku was created from the blood of both good and evil and therefore his energy will cancel itself out and remain neutral. This was virtually undetectable in the past. Clerics and priests could only detect positive and negative energy using their connection to God. The DOD figured out a way to track it in the 90's by searching for positive and negative energy in the same point of space at the same exact time. And we get this." Hunter pointed to the image of the smoke and the eerie image it formed.

"So, if the 9/11 attacks released Jeraku, how come the world is still here and not in turmoil. This happened almost ten years ago." Tyler observed.

"Why do you think we went after Al Quieda in Afghanistan?" Hunter asked. Tyler's eyes glazed over in awe. "We knew Jeraku was released into the world but was far too weak to take a physical form right away. The ones who hijacked those planes were from the Middle East and from Al Quieda, but that terrorist group has links back to the groups that followed and served Jeraku. You see, we thought that Jeraku took his form in Osama bin Laden and that's why we sought so hard to go after him. Unfortunately, we could never find him. Then we moved on to Iraq and went after Hussein thinking it was him. He's dead now and it's been almost ten years. Jeraku will regain all of power soon and we are still clueless." Hunter explained.

"Ok. Now back to my original question, sir. What does the prophecy have to do with Marie and me?" Tyler asked.

"It took scholars centuries to figure out a way to combat Jeraku, even after his banishment. And the way they finally figured out, through images and messages from God, that it would be the child of a mortal and demon to combat him. And that's where you two come in."

Tyler blinked a couple time at what Colonel Hunter had just said. Marie was able to pick up her jaw in time to say, "What?!"

"We need your child. My grandchild," Hunter clarified.

"We were just married the other day and you expect us just to have kids? If Jeraku is going to be an immediate problem, then I think we are fucked because we can't have a kid that quickly, sir," Tyler explained.

Hunter chuckled and gave a devious grin. "I think it's time for you two to meet Orion."

Colonel Hunter led the couple out of the conference room and back out into the rest of the research complex. On the way to wherever Hunter was leading those two he had explained the details of the research complex to them. Tyler was actually quite surprised to find out that they were Western Siberia. An American military base in the middle of Russia was a rather farfetched idea, though it did explain the fact why there were both American and Russian military personnel in the base. Apparently, during the end of the Cold War, the Bush administration worked with new Russian forces as a peace proposition to establish a joint military base in central Asia. Unfortunately, the Chinese and Korean governments would have viewed this as a threat and therefore, the base remained secret and operated a NATO task force for research and development of experimental genetic weapons. Unfortunately, this sort of weaponry was banned by the Geneva Convention and only the key members of the American government were allowed to find out. The main key personnel working there were mainly senior officers and top ranked researchers in the field of genetics, obviously those who had top level security clearance. The grunts working were, in fact, parolees from Fort Leavenworth who have been given a chance to clear their sentence if they just worked as security detail for the Siberian base. Normally, this was actually a simple job of just patrolling and standing watch. In actuality it was a boring post but a small price to pay for clearing a lifetime sentence. Tyler noticed that some of the guards were actually happy that the Koreans launched an offensive, giving the grunts something they can actually do.

"When you say genetic weapons what do you actually mean, sir?" Tyler asked as they approached a high level security door.

"Just that, son," Hunter answered.

The Colonel explained that they were on the verge of a breakthrough in genetic manipulation by increasing the performance output of a common variety soldier ten-fold. He explained the complications involved with genetic tampering on any species because of how unstable the genome is when you try to remove or change something. By removing or changing even one gene, the whole sequence regenerates and does something different. He used the exampled, "Say your child will have brown eyes but you want him or her to have blue eyes. Simply going in and changing the genome for that will not give him or her blue eyes without changing something else significant. The child could well in fact grow another arm. Our researchers and scientists have fixed that problem by adding in the genetic sequencing of non-human donors. By adding in, it helps fix the resequencing of the code and fills in the spots that we have missing…like the problem we have had to endure for the past week of creating the child we need."

Marie stopped and glared at her father. "What do you mean creating the child you need? A couple minutes ago you were just talking about our child, your grandchild."

Tyler stopped short of his wife and nodded. "You can't be serious that you created our child in the time span of a week, Colonel."

"They tell us not to," Hunter started, grinning vilely. The grin gave Tyler a feeling of ill-will. "But for some reason they do not want us mixing magic with science."

"Who's they?" Tyler asked.

"It's not important. Let's move on."

Tyler pushed the thought aside of an entity not wanting Colonel Hunter to combine magic with science. So, he brought up a more important issue. "Colonel, did you create a child?"

"It's amazing, you see. We have the technology to create a child, but mere mortal science cannot even grow human beings." Hunter's eyes seem to have glazed over and he was just musing to himself. "Humans can create children and clone them and grow them at a normal rate. But what I have done, not even God himself could ever achieve."

Marie rolled her eyes. "Here we go again. He's off on another one of his rants about how he can supersede God. How do you plan on fighting against the creature that they could not even beat?"

Hunter cackled. "That's where your kid comes into play."

"Our kid?" Marie asked. "Well, at least I didn't have to get pregnant, but you both know how much I hate kids!"

Tyler looked down at his feet and almost winced. Hunter noticed and asked, "What's wrong, Tyler?"

Before he could give his answer to the question, Marie piped up. "Tyler really wants kids."

"Well, now I have solved your problem." Hunter said.

"I don't get it," said Tyler, "how do you go and just create a child for us?"

"It's simple," Hunter started. "Okay, so it's not. But still. We have the mother's DNA and the father's DNA and we combine them together to produce literally a clone that has both traits of yourself and Marie. That is essentially what a child is: a living representation of its parents that has characteristics and traits from both sides of the family. The problem with that is without doing this the conventional way, i.e. you two having sex and conceiving the child, it leaves some of the code blank and we cannot form a being. The child being half-demon is able to take on foreign genetic code and adapting it easier than a human host can. So, we introduced animal DNA to fill in the spots."

"So, you made us a child that is half-human, half-demon, and half-animal?" Tyler asked.

Hunter formed an irritate look on his face. "No, because that is three-halves." Tyler looked away in shame for his stupidity. "Orion is still half-human and half-demon, but he will have animal-like features to him."

"What kind of features?" Marie asked.

Hunter smiled. "Well, you know how fond I am of wolves, so we captured a Siberian wolf and extracted DNA from it and resequenced it into Orion's genetic makeup. So he has wolf-like features to him now."

"Great, my son is a werewolf." Tyler said.

"I think it sounds kind of cool, actually." Marie mused. Her husband shot her a look of confusion. "Okay, so I am nervous because I don't think I am ready to be a mother, baby. What if we run into your friend, Mike? You know I want to punch babies when I hear his voice."

Tyler blinked in fear. The thought of his wife punching their newborn just because of the certain homosexual nature to one of his friend's ways of talking was actually a little scary. He pushed the thought away when he heard Hunter laughing again.

"Orion is certainly not an infant." Hunter explained.

"Oh really? How old is he then?" Marie asked.

"Well, chronologically, he is about a week old. But we certainly cannot go by those metrics for it would be far too confusing. Genetically, though and appearance-wise, I would put him around ten-years old. I figured you would at least like to watch the boy grow up, you know."

"I don't know if I am ready for this. I mean, we just got married, baby." Marie said looking at her husband with great concern. "I mean, what am I supposed to do while you are in flight school? I'll be in Grad school in Arizona. And I sure as hell am not gonna let this sleaze take care of him."

Hunter raised his brow. "I think I have been doing a fine job taking care of my grandson."

"Yeah, well… Whatever!" Marie said and crossed her arms.

Tyler pretty much left the conversation out of his head. The only thing he was thinking of was Orion. "I want to see him."

Hunter nodded and produced a silver keycard. He led the couple through to a large reinforced-steel door that was guarded by two military personnel dressed in full tactical riot gear holding military issue automatic shotguns. They were dressed head to toe in Kevlar and their eyes were shielded by dark face guards. Marie got up close and looked at her reflection in the visors of the guards. Tyler kept his distance though. He didn't provoke the guards, being as he didn't have demonic strength like his wife did.

The Colonel slid the silver keycard through the card reader and the oversized doors opened. The instant the doors began to part, the guards clicked their weapons off safety and turned to face the inside of the dark room.

"Come," Hunter said. "Let's meet your son."

He flipped a switch and the large room illuminated to reveal a single twin-sized bed. The large mound underneath the maroon colored covers began to stir and a child emerged from the sheets, stretching and yawning. The child rubbed his eyes and grunted softly as he tried to wake up. Still rubbing his eyes, the boy got out of his bed and stood, still trying to stretch.

Tyler's jaw dropped as he observed the child. A small ten-year old boy stood before them; however, he was unlike any ten-year-old they ever encountered before. He had shoulder length dirty-blonde hair, but as it shone in the light Tyler saw the hints of red in it. That was not the distinguishing fact, though. Sitting atop the child's head were a pair of silver, furry wolf ears that twitched ever so gently. The hands he rubbed his eyes with were ridden with razor like claws like the ones Marie had in her demon form. As he pulled them away and opened his eyes, Tyler saw the feral-like animal slits the boy had for eyes, and then recognized the light blue eyes with hints of gold in them, reminding Tyler so much of his beautiful wife. As the boy's eyes were beginning to focus, he walked slowly towards Tyler and the two others. Tyler saw the silver, wolf tail that swayed slowly behind him.

Tyler looked at him in awe. "Oh my god."

Marie looked in wonder, too, as Hunter smiled. "Wow."

The boy looked confused. He was dressed in slippers that resembled a bear's feet, blue seeping pants with white reindeer on them, and a baggy University of Arizona Soccer t-shirt. His bodily features notwithstanding, his attire seemed far out of place in this military base. "Grandpa?" He asked, the drowsiness in his voice noticeable. The comment was obviously directed towards Hunter.

"Good morning, Orion. Sorry to wake you so early." Hunter said. The grandfatherly attitude became surprisingly apparent in his voice.

"It's ok. I was up late cuz I was excited about today." Orion said, rather innocently.

Hunter chuckled. "I assume then you know these two people, Orion?"

Orion walked slowly up to Marie, who breathed sort of heavy: no doubt she was very confused as well. He walked right up in front of her and looked deeply at her with big, blue puppy-dog eyes and looked kind of sad. Marie didn't know what to do and Tyler feared that she would have freaked out. However, Tyler was not prepared for happened next. Orion opened his mouth to speak, showing off the elongated canines in his teeth, and said, "Mommy?"

Marie drew in a breath and let it out with a, "Awww! So cute!" She scooped up little Orion into her arms and spun him around, earning herself a giggle from her child. "Mommy's little boy!"

Tyler's jaw dropped even farther. _What the fuck?! I am never going to understand this woman!_

"Oh my god!" Marie exclaimed. Her husband saw how happy she was. The same sparkle in her eyes during their wedding day now filled those beautiful blue orbs now. And the boy, their son, was as happy as could be.

"Wow." Tyler said under his breath. "We are finally a family."

Marie brought Orion over to his daddy and showed him to Tyler. "Orion this is your daddy." She said with a bright smile.

Orion waved his little claw and said "Hi, daddy!"

Tyler, who was the soft type, started to cry and smile brightly and let his tears of happiness flow down. "Hi, Orion." He took his son from his wife and hugged him tightly. Tyler grunted as his son returned the favor and noticed the demonic strength in him. That would have to take some getting used to.

Marie moved over and kissed her husband on the forehead. "I love you, _schatz_."

Tyler smiled, happiest he has ever been in his life, and replied, "I love you, too, baby."

After the cute, Kodak moment taken place in what they considered Orion's bedroom, Tyler took his wife and his new son to the base mess hall to eat. They sat at a small table in the corner of the basketball court-sized hall and were eating and resting peacefully, for probably what Tyler considered the first time in about a week. Marie sipped her green tea and nibbled softly at some toast while Tyler took a gulp of coffee every now and then. Their new son, Orion, stuffed his face into about three bowls of ramen. Obviously with "monster" traits he had developed, as well, a "monster" appetite.

Orion looked so cute in his parents' eyes as he sat there in his sleeping clothes, eating ramen noodles with a pair of chopsticks and swinging his feet. Tyler and Marie smiled as they just gazed at their son, who every so often looked at both of them and rewarded them with a toothy grin. Just when he thought his life could not get any better, fate turned around and gave him a son. Tyler was at this point the happiest man in the world now.

After slurping through his second bowl, Orion set it down and let out a breath of satisfaction. "All done! Can I have the other one mommy? Please?"

Marie smiled and started to slide the third and final black bowl of noodles to her son. "Are you sure you're up for that, little one? You're not full yet, are you?"

"Uh-uh!" Orion scooped up the bowl and began to drink from the bowl, then tore into it with his chopsticks.

"Well, he certainly is growing," Marie said to her husband, chuckling sweetly.

Tyler nodded and smiled, stealing a quick kiss from his darling wife. "So, buddy, do you know how old you are?"

As Orion was about to answer the question, Marie changed her mood and whispered into her husband's ear. "Honey, are you sure that he is ready for questions like this?" Tyler gave her an assuring look and let his son speak.

"Um, I am ten years old!" Orion beamed as he held up all ten digits on both hands. "Um, um, my birthday was last week, I think. At least, that's what Grandpa told me."

Marie frowned. "What Grandpa told you? What else did he tell you?"

"Well, he said that you two had to go away for a long time and, and, and, um, that I would finally be able to see you, but I had been asleep most of the time you and Daddy were gone." Orion explained as he rubbed and scratched one of his wolf ears.

"Really?" Tyler said. "So, Grandpa told you that we were away? Do you know what we were doing?"

Orion looked around, searching his mind for the answer, as he continued to rub his right ear. "Um, um, he said that you and Mommy were fighting."

Marie raised her brow in shock. "Fighting!?"

"Yeah," Orion answered. "He said you two were fighting in a war or something like that."

"Oh," Marie said, relieved.

Tyler nodded. "How did you know that we were your parents, son?"

"Grandpa showed me pictures of you and Mommy. I saw you two on your wedding day, and I saw you and Mommy when you were going into the Navy and I saw other pictures of you two." Orion said in a saddening manner and looked down at his feet that he stopped swinging. "I wish I could have been at your wedding, Daddy."

"Orion, it's ok. You were…asleep," Tyler said, thinking hard about the lies that Hunter had fed his son.

Marie wanted to take the conversation in a different direction. "So, did Grandpa give you a birthday party?"

"Um, no. Not a party, but he did give me a small cake. It was chocolate with white frosting." Orion said. He leaned in to his mother and whisper, "It wasn't very good but don't tell anybody because I don't want to hurt his feelings."

She smiled at that. "So, does Grandpa ever let you out and about to play?"

"Um, no, not really."

"Well, what do you do then?" she asked.

"Well, I stayed in my room a lot and read stories to myself. Sometimes, grandpa took me out and into the "off-limits" places and the doctor's did tests on me. I thought they would hurt, but they didn't. The most "funnest" test was when grandpa wanted me to wrestle some of the Marine guys. But I don't think they wanted to play, because they didn't really put up a fight." Orion explained. He then looked at another table and smiled as he waved. Tyler and Marie both looked in the direction that Orion waved at. They saw a table with American Marines sitting: one had a cast on his arm, the other's face was severely bruised and the third was on crutches. They gave the family a disgruntled look.

"Well, he's definitely your son." Tyler said playfully to his wife.

Marie giggled. "Which reminds me! So, do you know how to use any of your powers, Orion?"

Orion looked confused. "What powers, Mommy?"

Her jaw dropped in awe. "Grandpa didn't tell you anything?!"

"About what Mommy?"

Marie's eye twitched as she looked at her husband. She slammed her fist on the table, cracking it badly and said under her breath, "I am going to kill that son of a bitch!"

"Honey, calm down." Tyler said, rubbing his wife's shoulder and arm that rested violently on the table. "Maybe there is a reason for that. Maybe Hunter wanted to you to teach the boy that kind of stuff."

"Yeah, babe, but you don't understand. Demons are supposed to learn about their powers as soon as possible. It's for our own protection. What if the Korean's were able to get to him? Strength alone, that he doesn't know about, won't protect my baby." Marie explained.

"I thought I was your baby," Tyler said under his breath.

"What?!"

"Nothing! Um, well, look! It's a perfect way for you and Orion to bond now. You can teach him different kinds of stuff. Demon stuff." Tyler said.

Marie nodded. "I guess you are right. So, Orion. Did Grandpa ever explain to you what you are? I mean, where you came from?"

"Um," Orion started, kind of confused, and swallowing a mouthful of noodles. "You mean why my ears are different from yours and Daddy's? Well, Grandpa said that I was going to different from everyone else." He scratched at his ears again.

"Well, he's right, sweetheart." Tyler said. "What are we supposed to do when we want him to go to school? You think you could teach him that little trick you do to hide your demon side?"

"Well, yeah" Marie explained. "It's a pretty basic spell. I mean, all you do is use the dark magic and aura that you have as a demon and concentrate on the form you want to take. If you want to look human, you focus on that. But you demon side, that's easy." And with that, Marie's form blinked back into her demon self. Tyler was now the only human sitting at the table. In the mess hall, some of the personnel moved away and some moved towards, depending on their sick and twisted fantasies.

Orion looked at his mother in awe, who smiled brightly back at him. "Hi, little one." Tyler was afraid that the kid would get scared of his mother's true form.

Tyler, though, was surprised when Orion stood up and almost started to cry. "Oh, mommy. You look so beautiful." And he threw himself into Marie's arms and hugged her tight. As mother and son embraced, Tyler thought, _She sure is, son. _

"You know, seeing you like that reminds me of the other night." Tyler said and laughed.

Marie glared at her husband with her red orbs and smiled deviously. "Baby, we are married and have a kid. Those days are long gone."

Tyler dropped his jaw and almost gasped. "What?" barely escaped his mouth.

She threw her head back and laughed. "I is kidding, baby!" Marie then let go of Orion and set him and looked at him deep in his eyes. "Now, Orion, I want you to focus. Deep inside of you is this great power. I want you to grab it, hold it tight and focus. Think of looking human like your father."

Orion looked from his mother to his dad, who nodded and smiled energetically. "I can try, mommy." He closed his eyes and looked like he was thinking real hard for a few seconds. Looking like he had failed miserably, he looked teary and looked into his mother's eyes. "I can't do it, Mommy."

"Honey, it's ok. Just focus. I want you to try and look human." Marie said, sounding very sweet and understanding.

Again, Orion closed his eyes and focused. He breathed in deeply and when he exhaled, it seemed as though his demon features instantly morphed into human features. Orion's hair remained the same length and color, but his wolf ears faded down into little human ears. The claws and fangs were gone and Tyler noticed the tail had faded away too. Orion opened his eyes and examined himself. Tyler and Marie both saw that he had normal human eyes, too, but they remained the same color. He looked so excited.

"Not as subtle as you, but yeah. Not bad for his first time." Tyler said and smiled at his boy.

"Mommy! I did it!" He said as he jumped into his mother's powerful looking arms.

Marie smiled. "I saw! I'm proud of you, little one." She looked at her husband in triumph. "I solved the school problem. What have you done?" She said smiling slyly.

Tyler scoffed. "Hey, those are my genes too."

"Oh, does that mean he is gonna cry a lot and not talk to girls?" Tyler wiped the smile off his face, and almost started to lift his middle finger but stopped when he noticed the look of death he got from his wife. Marie giggled then and said, "Oh, come on, babe. You know I love you."

"I love you, too, Tia." Tyler said.

"And I love you both!" came the excited reply from their little bundle of joy.

Tyler was about to take Orion from Marie and give him a hug when all hell broke loose. The structure shook as a deafening explosion was heard around them. Dust and debris came from the ceiling as alarms began to blare. Over the loudspeaker, Tyler heard the yeoman speak: "General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands to your stations! This is an Intruder Alert"

The whole mess hall burst in uproar. All of the personnel, that is all of the ones who were not injured, dropped their food and grabbed their weapons and rushed out through the door. Marie looked worried as she held her son closer. She looked at her husband, "What do we do?"

"Don't worry, everything will be all right, Marie," He said.

Orion said in a rather childish tone, "They're back…"

Dust and debris fell around them as the mess hall shook violently from all the explosions they heard. Shockwaves engulfed some of the people and swept them off their feet. Tyler could not make out what instructions were being dished out over the intercom system; the only thing that he was concerned with was protecting his family, whom he held close to him while he looked around to observe the situation. Marie stood emotionless, silently preparing herself for the worst while little Orion pressed himself against his mother, scared at the outside, violently recurring environment.


End file.
